Regular Falls
by IceMan822
Summary: When things turn deadly at the park, Mordecai and the park crew search for answers as to who's behind it all. The park crew is led to Gravity Falls, a mysterious town where supernatural happenings are just as normal as at the park. Can this town give them the answers they are looking for? Teen Rating - Some strong profanity and violence
1. Ghost

"Unbelievable... Just unbelievable..."

Benson exhaled slowly, trying to keep his temper. After all, he did need to find out what exactly happened and why. The slight twinge of an oncoming migraine was starting to fill the inside of his glass head. He looked up across the meeting room table at the usual suspects behind anything weird that happens at the park: a certain duo consisting of a blue jay and a raccoon.

The shades were drawn, letting little light from the outside to seep in. Nobody in the room wanted to look outside and see the aftermath of all the carnage that took place earlier on this warm summer day.

"I know I keep letting you guys off lightly for all the weird stuff that happens around here, but this time it's gone too far." Benson said as calmly as possible.

"Look, Benson, I know most of the time it is our fault..." Mordecai admitted. "But seriously this thing came out of nowhere!"

"DON'T GIVE ME THAT LOAD OF BULL! YOU GUYS ARE ALWAYS THE CAUSE OF ANYTHING STRANGE GOING ON AROUND HERE!" Benson roared in reply.

Mordecai and Rigby froze in their seats at this outburst of anger. Looks of worry and fear were plastered on their faces. They didn't dare protest.

"PARK PATRONS DIED TODAY BECAUSE OF THIS! IT'S A VERY SERIOUS SITUATION! SO STOP TRYING TO DODGE RESPONSIBILITY AND JUST TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED!"

Mordecai and Rigby were used to Benson constantly yelling at them. But this time it was entirely different. Rigby didn't even think about snarking back at Benson as he would've usually done under normal circumstances. Mordecai finally mustered up the courage to speak.

"Benson, I am going to be totally straight up with you: we had nothing to do with that...um..." he struggled to find the right word to describe the monstrosity. "Well, it was like a giant shadow monster thing."

Benson, having calmed down significantly, bluntly said "Go on, tell me."

"Okay, so... um... first the sky turned like a sick, blotchy purple color and then we heard this droning noise. It was freaky as all hell, dude. Anyways, then that.. thing just appeared out of nowhere and just started trashing everything in sight. It leveled the snack bar, the fountain, it even went for Muscle Man's trailer."

At the mention of the Rigby snapped out of his silence and started to chuckle. Benson glared down at the small raccoon with a look of pure contempt. Rigby immediately shut up.

"At that point it had already killed a few people so the rest of the park crew came to try and stop it. We tried killing it so many different ways. It just wouldn't die. Even Skips couldn't take it down."

Benson shuddered at the thought of that. _What could be that powerful that not even Skips could take it down?_

"So, instead of killing it, we distracted it long enough for Skips to perform one of his spirit dance things. When he finished, the monster let out this unearthly scream and just vanished."

"Anything else I should know?" Benson asked.

"Yeah, it left this weird coin-looking thing on the ground." Mordecai replied.

He took out the object and laid it on the conference table. It was a small piece of wood cut in the shape of a slightly oblong circle. The side facing up had a weird carving etched into it. The carving was of a normal human hand. However, Benson noticed that it had six fingers instead of the usual five.

Rigby finally started to act like himself again. "It's a stupid piece of junk. Just throw it away and move on with our lives."

He received a swift punch in the shoulder by Mordecai. Rigby recoiled in pain and let out a whining groan.

"Shut up dude, it's obviously gotta be important. These symbols have to mean something." Mordecai said.

_A six-fingered hand? What the hell is this supposed to mean? _Benson pondered.

He then flipped over the piece of wood to see what was on the other side. There was another etching on this side. To Benson's surprise, the symbol was one that was very familiar to him after all these years at the park. The symbol was of a lone pine tree.

_No, it couldn't be. We ended this awhile ago. Could they really be responsible for this instead of Mordecai and Rigby?_

Benson grabbed his walkie talkie and spoke into it "Muscle Man, Fives, Skips, and Pops listen up. I need everybody in the office now."

A short time later, the rest of the park crew walked in and sat down in the dark conference room.

"Yo, Benson bro. What's the deal with all this freaky shit going on?" Muscle Man questioned loudly.

"I was just going to explain that." replied Benson. "When Skips sent the monster away, it left behind this small, wooden object."

Benson held up the object in front of everyone so that they could plainly see it. Pops looked at it with the innocent curiosity of a child. Everyone else was wondering what it had to do with the monster.

"On this side of the object, there's a six-fingered hand etched into it. Does anyone have any idea of what it could mean?" Benson asked.

Muscle Man had a smirk on his face "I don't know what it's doing with six fingers. But do you know who else has six fingers and doesn't know what to do with them?" Before anybody could silence him he blurted out "MY MOM!" and started guffawing. Fives laughed and then delivered one of his signature high-fives to Muscle Man for his stupid joke.

Benson started to turn red, and looked as if he were about to blow a fuse. Muscle Man immediately became serious again.

"Sorry, Benson. Please go on." Muscle Man apologized.

"Now on the other side is a symbol that all of you should recognize." Benson flipped the object around to reveal the pine tree etched into the opposite side.

Skips spoke out, "That's the emblem on the East Pines Park sign."

"Exactly," said Benson "But I thought we agreed to a truce after Muscle Man scared the living hell out of Gene."

"This is ridiculous, dude! Innocent people lost their lives because of this! They've gone too far this time!" Mordecai shouted bravely.

"YEAH LET'S KILL THOSE SORRY JERKS!" Rigby shouted at the top of his lungs.

Everyone agreed heartily with Mordecai's and Rigby's outburst. Except for Benson, who was thinking deeply.

"Settle down, guys." Benson said plainly "Now, I know it looks like they're behind this, but we have to be absolutely sure. So, we are going over there to get an explanation as to why their symbol was left behind by that monster. Don't bring any pranking weapons either. We go in there, get information from Gene, and then leave. Everyone understand?"

The park crew, who were ready to go back to war, deflatedly agreed to Benson's rules.

They all loaded up into the golf cart and sped toward the park on the opposite side of town.

The park crew reached the gate of East Pines Park. There were two guards standing watch out front.

"Well look what we have here, those jackasses from Quintel-Marin Park." the one guard taunted.

The park crew glared with looks of pure animosity at their former enemies. But listening to Benson's orders they didn't try to start a fight.

"What are you doing here, we still have that truce going on. Remember?" the second said condescendingly.

"We're here to talk to Gene." Benson replied, unfazed by the guards' taunting.

"Alright, but we'll be watching you. One wrong move and we'll be back to the old prank war." the first guard yelled.

The gate opened up and Benson drove the cart into East Pines. He determinedly drove on wanting to get to the bottom of this whole situation.

_What the hell is going on?_


	2. Ignition

Drowning out the noise of his coworker's quiet murmuring, Benson was taking in his surroundings. For only being on the other side of town, East Pines park was vastly different than his own. Tall pine trees in deep shades of green stretched out along the winding dirt road that the cart was traveling on. The main road branched off into other side roads at seemingly random intervals on each side. Those roads led to small clearings between the trees where benches and picnic tables populated the areas.

_This isn't much of a park. In fact it seems more like a campground than anything else _Benson thought as he drove on.

They finally reached the main building of East Pines. It was a short, square, and very plain-looking building. The park crew became familiar with this building during the last winter. Gene and the East Pines employees actually helped Benson and the crew stop a rogue elf from destroying Christmas. Benson hoped that Gene would remember this act of mutual respect between the rival parks so that he could get answers out of him more easily today.

The cart rolled up the dirt path right to the main building of East Pines park.

Benson brought the cart to a stop; the crew all exited the cart and headed towards the building. They were once again "greeted" by an East Pines guard.

"Where do y'all think you're headed?" asked the guard in a Southern drawl.

The park crew were all taken aback at the odd accent. It wasn't very common to hear someone have a Southern accent in a northeastern state like Oregon.

"We need to talk to Gene. This is really urgent so please let us-" Benson began but was cut off by the guard.

"Ain't no way all o' ya are goin' in. Only one o' ya." barked the guard as he eyed all of them suspiciously.

The crew all conversed with each other to see who was the most fitting to go inside. Out of all of them, only three were likely candidates to go in. Either Skips, Pops, or Benson. Pops is the boss' son and he is technically the superior of everyone in the group. But he was ruled out because of his rather eccentric personality and odd quirks. That just left Skips and Benson.

Skips spoke up in his gravelly voice "Benson, you should be the one to go in. Even though you and Gene are rivals, I can tell that deep down he really does respect you in some way."

"You really think so, Skips? I mean, how do you know?" Benson asked.

"I've been around on Earth long enough to read any person like an open book. I've already got Gene figured out." he replied in his unintentionally intimidating yet calm way.

"Alright Skips, I trust you." Benson replied. He knew from having Skips as a co-worker for so long that he could undoubtedly rely on the big yeti's judgment. Benson then turned to the guard, "I'm going in to see Gene."

The guard stepped aside and allowed Benson to access the door. Behind him he could hear Rigby leading the crew to chant out encouragements like "BENSON! BENSON! WOOOO! YEAH BENSON!" He couldn't help but crack a small smile at his own employees actually cheering him on for once instead of cursing him. Benson reached out and put his hand on the doorknob. He inhaled deeply, let it go slowly, then opened the door. He started to make his way down the dimly lit hallway. At the end of the hallway he could see the door he was looking for. The plaque outside the door read EAST PINES PARK MANAGER – GENE.

_Time to settle this whole mess once and for all_ he thought to himself as he made his way down the hallway.

"No, please, you don't have to do this. This isn't how it was supposed to happen."

"It's already too late, Gene. The plan has been set in motion."

"I'm begging you please, they don't deserve it. It's not their fault..." Gene pleaded futilely into the phone.

"Sniveling like a lost child won't save them, Gene. You should've taken them all out long ago. It didn't have to be like this." the menacing voice taunted on the other end.

"Please, I-" Gene began, but suddenly there was a knock at the door. "I'll have to call you back later." he whispered into the phone.

Gene cleared his throat and took a few short seconds to compose himself , "Okay, you can come in."

He heard the doorknob turn and the door open with a shuddering creak. To his surprise, he found a certain gumball machine making his way into the office.

"Benson? What are you doing here?" Gene questioned.

"Look, Gene, I need you to answer some important questions for me. I also need you to be completely honest with me on these answers." Benson began, he looked gravely into the vending machine's eyes.

A bit taken aback by this sudden visit, Gene nodded involuntarily and blurted out "Of course. What do you need?"

"Earlier today, this... monster.. attacked my park. And I have reason to believe that you and your employees were behind it all." Benson spoke, his eyes never broke away from Gene's. He was deadly serious.

"Benson, you seem to forget that we have a truce going on. I did not order my men to do anything to provoke you guys into a prank war again." Gene replied. He did as best as he could to mask the fear and worry in his voice.

Benson pounded the desk furiously, his head turned a sickening shade of red. "BULLSHIT!" Benson screamed at the top of his lungs. He threw the wooden disc with the markings on the desk. "IF YOU HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT, THEN WHY IS YOUR FUCKING PARK LOGO ON THIS THING THE MONSTER LEFT BEHIND?"

Gene was silent, his eyes locked onto the wooden disc. His heart sank when he saw the small object.

"GENE, SOME OF PARK OUR PATRONS DIED! **OUR PARK PATRONS!** I NEED SOME ANSWERS! WHAT IS GOING ON?" Benson raged.

_If only you knew _Gene thought to himself defeatedly.

_Should I tell him? Can I tell him? _Gene thought about what the consequences would be if he did tell Benson. All he knew was that it wouldn't end well for him.

"Benson, I..." Gene began. "I..."

"YOU WHAT? SPIT IT OUT!" Benson demanded.

"I..." Gene struggled. "I... am going to have to ask you to leave..." he finally said devoid of any emotion. He pressed a button under the desk, and almost immediately two guards barged into the room and detained Benson.

"NO! GET OFF!" Benson struggled furiously against his captors but it was no use. They escorted him out of the office and threw him roughly out the front door of the building. The rest of the crew looked on with outrage and were ready to fight. But more guards game out of the building armed with guns. The guard with the southern accent spoke up.

"Y'all are gon' hafta leave the premises. We'll escort y'all out. Anyone who resists is just fixin' to be shot. Understand?" he drawled.

The crew had no choice but to comply. They all piled into their golf cart and rolled slowly down the dirt road towards the park entrance. Two golf carts filled with armed guards flanked them as they made their way down the road.

They reached the front gate of East Pines and were just about ready to head back to their own park. Mordecai looked back behind him and saw another golf cart speeding straight for them. It screeched to a halt a few feet from their own golf cart. "Dude look, it's Gene!" Mordecai exclaimed.

Gene hopped out of the cart and headed towards the park crew. His own guards came up to him to ask what was going on.

"Gene, sir, what's going on?" one guard asked.

Gene turned to the guard and replied, "I'll handle them from here on. You and the rest of the guards get back to your usual patrol routes around the park."

"Of course, sir." the guard said. He and the rest of the guards turned and headed back into East Pines.

Gene was left alone with Benson and the rest of the guys.

"Look, I really shouldn't be doing this, but it's something I have to do." Gene began. "The information I'm about to tell you may just end up getting me killed."

Benson looked at him intently, "Gene, whatever you know, you have to tell us."

Gene reached into his golf cart and pulled out an old, wrinkled roll of paper. He then walked over and gave it to Benson. "On that roll of paper is a map to a secret location within this park. It is a hidden town that has been forgotten by the outside world." Gene explained. "It is called Gravity Falls."

Benson looked confused, "What does this have to do with what happened at our park?"

Gene held up his hand to signal the gumball machine to be silent. "Once there, you will need to seek out a certain man. He is the one who can answer all your questions."

"Dude, what's his name? We have to know his name if we want to find this guy." Mordecai spoke up.

Gene replied "The name of this man has something to do with the name of this park. That's all I can tell you." After a brief pause he continued "Once you find him, be sure to mention your boss' name to him."

_What? Mr. Maellerd is involved with this too? What the hell? _Benson pondered.

Benson's thoughts were interrupted suddenly. The sky once again turned black, sickly clouds of varying shades of purple rolled in. The horrible droning noise filled the air once again. It seemed to last an eternity. Then, as suddenly as it came, it went away again. Gene was no longer standing. He was lying face-up on the ground. To everyone's horror they saw his face contorted into an expression of indescribable fear. They looked further down and saw the glass on his body was completely shattered; the snacks that filled the vending machine's body were strewn about on the ground around him. Gene was dead on the ground before them.

"Shit, bro! What happened?" Muscle Man blurted out.

"I think that thing came back because of what Gene gave us." Benson replied still in shock. "He sacrificed himself to give us this information, so it must be important."

He turned to the rest of the crew, "We need to find Gravity Falls."


	3. Low

**Author's Note: The Pines Twins, for the purpose of this story are 15 years old. Robbie and Wendy are 17. Every other character from either Regular Show or Gravity Falls retain their current age from their respective series.**

**Song used in the chapter: Low Man's Lyric by Metallica. It really is an amazing song even though it's far from Metallica's usual sound.**

From his room in the attic of the Mystery Shack, Dipper could hear the unbearably loud music coming from below. Heavy distorted guitars and pounding drums made up most of the noise. Through a small hole in the floor of the room, the obnoxious music drifted in and up through Dipper's ears. He threw on a pair of headphones to try and dampen the noise. It was no use, they only lessened the noise slightly. Dipper frowned, he would not be able to concentrate and read what was in the mysterious Book #3 before him. He had hoped to pass the time reading the book, but it was simply too noisy. He tossed the book across the room where it landed with a thud, then jumped into his bed and covered his ears with his pillow. It still didn't drown out the blaring music.

After a few minutes, the door to Dipper's room was slammed open. Through the door came an elderly man wearing a fez and an oversized pair of thick-framed glasses. He immediately entered the room and shut the door behind him to try and keep as much noise out as possible.

"Hey, sad sack! What are you doing up here? Don't you know there's a concert going on downstairs?" Grunkle Stan spoke in his gruff voice. "I mean, it's not really my kind of music, but I guess that's what the kids are into now."

The music downstairs was coming from none other than the person Dipper despised the most: Robbie. He and his band had rented out the Mystery Shack to play a small concert that night. In Stan's true nature, he naturally accepted the money and let Robbie's band play.

"I wasn't invited, actually..." Dipper sullenly replied.

"Heh heh heh," Stan chuckled " That's rough, kiddo. But seriously, even Mabel, Soos, and Wendy were invited."

At the mention Wendy's name, Dipper's heart skipped a beat. He figured that she would be invited. After all, Robbie was trying to win back her affection because of what happened earlier that day. Wendy and Robbie got into an argument over Robbie not paying enough attention to what Wendy had to say. The last time Dipper saw them together earlier was after they were done yelling at each other when they stormed off in opposite directions. He was sure that they had broken up. Dipper figured that this concert was a desperate attempt by Robbie to get Wendy back together with him.

"Yeah, well... I'm not exactly friendly with that jerk Robbie anyways." Dipper responded a bit bitterly.

"I know what you mean, kid. He's always making doe eyes at Wendy. Then when she's not looking, he shoots you some pretty nasty looks." Stan barked out. "That little prick really gets my blood boiling."

Dipper let out a small smile. _So, Grunkle Stan and I actually have something in common? Who would've guessed!_

"Heh heh, well I'm gonna stay in here for awhile since this is the quietest room. So, do whatever you were doing before. Don't mind me." Grunkle Stan said bluntly. He flipped on the television and instantly tuned out the rest of the world with mind-numbing cable television.

Dipper's mind drifted back to the book.

_I wish I could be reading more of that book right now, but I can't risk Grunkle Stan seeing it. Nobody else can know about it. Besides, they'd think I'm crazy for actually believing in all the paranormal stuff that the book warns about._

Just then, the music downstairs ceased for a split moment. Dipper could hear Robbie addressing the small crowd. Dipper listened through the small hole in the floor.

"Alright everyone, we've got one more song for you guys. It's a cover song of a personal favorite of mine: Low Man's Lyric by none other than the legendary Metallica."

Robbie paused, and the small group of spectators cheered.

"Wendy, babe. This song's for you."

Robbie kicked off the song by playing the intro on his acoustic guitar. Already, Dipper could tell this would be a ballad-type song instead of the harsh metal music they were playing before. It had a twangy, almost southern rock-like sound to it. Very depressing and hopeless sounding. Then as the verse came around, Robbie started to sing. It hit Dipper suddenly that Robbie could actually sing well.

**_"My eyes seek reality_**

**_My fingers seek my veins_**

**_There's a dog at your back step_**

**_He must come in from the rain_**

**_I fall cause I let go_**

**_The net below has rot away_**

**_So my eyes seek reality_**

**_And my fingers seek my veins"_**

Dipper thought to himself _Wow, this dude can actually pull of a decent James Hetfield singing voice._

He was embarrassed to admit that Robbie was pretty talented musically. Almost spellbound by the song, he resumed listening.

**_"The trash fire is warm_**

**_But nowhere safe from the storm_**

**_And I can't bear to see_**

**_What I've let me be_**

**_So wicked and worn"_**

Dipper couldn't believe that this was the same kid who, since the beginning of the show, was growling and singing whinily into the microphone. He really hoped that Wendy wouldn't like the song. Just so that he could maybe have a chance with her instead of that jerk Robbie.

**_"So as I write to you_**

**_Of what is done and to do_**

**_Maybe you'll understand_**

**_And won't cry for this man_**

**_Cause low man is due_**

**_Please forgive me"_**

Dipper waited for the rest of the hauntingly beautiful song to finish. Then heard Robbie speak once more.

"Thanks again, everyone! We're Robbie V. and the Tombstones!"

It took awhile for the band to pack up and for the crowd of people watching to disperse. Dipper raced to the big window in the bedroom that overlooked the entrance to the Mystery Shack. From there he could see all the people leaving. Then he spotted the two people that he was looking for: Wendy and Robbie. He couldn't make out what they were saying, but they were having a conversation while standing awkwardly near each other. Dipper's heart raced as he looked on for signs that Wendy would dump Robbie. But all his hopes were dashed when he saw them embrace in a hug. They then walked off into the night holding hands.

Numbly, Dipper walked back over to his bed and sat down. He was fighting back tears, but his eyes were beginning to water. All he could do was replay that memory over and over in his head, hoping to remember it in a way where Wendy rejected Robbie. But he knew what the harsh reality was.

At that instant, Stan, who had dozed off for awhile, rousted himself from his nap. He got up, rubbed the sleep from his eyes and looked to see his great nephew with his head buried in his pillow.

_Oh Christ... What's the boy's problem now? _Stan thought cynically.

Stan just then noticed that the music had stopped. _That concert must be over._

He looked out the window to see if there were any people still hanging around outside. Then Stan saw why Dipper was such a mess. He saw Robbie and Wendy holding hands, walking away from the Mystery Shack.

_Damn, that poor kid just can't catch a break. _Stan thought solemnly.

He wanted to cheer Dipper up but he just didn't know how to go about it. Sure, he could weave a tapestry of deceitful claims and half-truths to sucker tourists into buying useless trinkets from the Mystery Shack. But when it came to actual human emotions and dealing with others sincerely, that's where he didn't have a clue.

"Hey, kid..." Stan began awkwardly "Um... Come on, now. We already established that you're a man! And men don't cry, right?"

Stan tried to make light of the situation but it evoked no response from Dipper. He still laid down on the bed, head under pillow, tears streaming silently down his face. It was then that he got up and walked over to Dipper. He reached out a hand and placed it gently on Dipper's shoulder.

"Look, Dipper." Stan began. Suddenly, Dipper's head shot up from under the pillow. Stan never really referred to Dipper by his real name unless he was being absolutely serious. "I know it hurts to lose someone you love, but you just have to move on and keep your head up high. Trust me, I've been through this sort of thing many times before. It'll all work out for you eventually because you're a pretty special kid."

Dipper couldn't believe that his great uncle was being so honest with him. It was a rare moment that Stan ever showed such seriousness and caring. Dipper found himself wrapping Stan in a hug. "Thanks, Grunkle Stan." he said quietly.

Stan was shocked at the sudden gesture of affection, but he reciprocated the hug and replied "Don't mention it, kiddo."

Then it both hit them: this was an extremely awkward situation for the both of them. They both jumped back, breaking the embrace. They both eyed each other, red faced and embarrassed.

"Never speak of this again?" Stan said bluntly.

"Right, right." Dipper replied immediately.

And with that, Stan exited the room and shut the door behind him. In a way, he was happy that he helped out his great nephew. But another thought came into his mind, he was embarrassed that he actually let slip any semblance of basic human emotion.

_Ugh, I must be getting soft in my old age..._


	4. Entwined

With his mind briefly clear of any thought of Wendy, Dipper crossed to the opposite side of his room to retrieve the book he had thrown. He picked it up and looked at the cover. Dipper stared almost transfixed at the six-fingered hand with the number 3 in the middle that adorned the cover. He never could figure out the meaning behind the odd hand. Dipper turned and made his way back to his bed and sat down on it.

_I might as well get some reading done before bed._

But no sooner than when he opened the cover, the door to the room once again burst open. A young girl wearing an oversized sweater and braces barged right in, smiling gleefully.

"HI, DIPPER!" she yelled. "What's up, bro?"

"Hey, Mabel." Dipper replied slightly irritated, shutting the book as he spoke. "Nothing much. I was just _trying_ to read."

"Bleh, sounds boring..." Mabel teased. "The concert, on the other hand, was actually pretty good."

And with those words, Dipper was reminded of what took place a short while ago. The sappy song. Wendy and Robbie talking. Them holding hands and walking away...

Mabel noticed the look on Dipper's face. She could sense when something was wrong or upsetting her brother. It was a sort of connection only twins can understand.

_Hmm... he must be upset because of something Robbie did since I mentioned the concert _Mable thought, trying to piece together what was bothering her brother. Then it finally came to her. What Robbie said before starting the last song at the concert...

"_**Wendy, babe. This song's for you."**_

She realized then that Robbie and Wendy must have made up after the show. And worst of all, Dipper had seen it happen. Mabel thought quickly about how she could cheer her brother up.

"Well, it wasn't all good... Whenever that jerk Robbie tried to sing a high note, his voice cracked! It was hilarious!" Mabel tried to coax a laugh from Dipper. It didn't work.

"Mabel, stop." Dipper said with exasperation. "I know what you're trying to do, and I'm just not in the mood."

Mabel was slightly hurt by that snap. "I was only trying to cheer you up." she replied hurt. "Only because I know something had to have happened between Wendy and Robbie."

Dipper looked up at her with utter confusion. "Mabel, how did you know?" he questioned incredulously. He was genuinely surprised that she figured it out.

She simply shrugged "We're twins, duh! We're supposed to know how to read each others minds and junk." Mabel replied, giggling at her absurd answer. She couldn't help but think that it would've made Dipper proud at how she pieced together all the little clues together to draw that conclusion.

"Okay, if you say so." Dipper said, he flashed a half-smile to Mabel just because she was trying so hard to make him feel better. But he still felt that inner sadness deep in the pit of his stomach.

Just then, a thought occurred to Dipper. Something that he would've never even thought about doing before. Something _crazy._

"Mabel, if I sneak out of the Mystery Shack for a little while, do you promise not to tell Grunkle Stan?"

"Oooh, sneaking out! You're turning into a real rebel hahahaha!" she replied sarcastically. "What could possibly be going on that you would want to sneak out?"

"I want to see if I can find Robbie and dig up any information about him." Dipper told his twin. "Then if there's anything bad I can find out about him, I could use it as leverage to try and get Wendy to dump him."

"Okay, this is completely unlike you," Mabel said seriously, her eyebrow cocked suspiciously. She paused for a brief second, then that big goofy grin was back on her face. "But I like the new you! Go on, I won't say anything."

"Thanks, Mabel! You're the best!" Dipper said as he grabbed his flashlight and backpack.

"Just don't be out too long, it's already 11:00. You know how weird it gets out there at night." Mabel called out.

"Yeah, I just might run into some giant talking animals or something!" Dipper responded playfully. He then snuck as quietly as possible out of the Mystery Shack and into the night.

_I should probably start off by checking Wendy's house. He'll probably still be there since he's usually skulking around Gravity Falls at night._

Dipper walked the familiar path to Wendy's house. He knew a shortcut that would get him there in no time. Slightly embarrassed, he remembered that he had calculated the quickest way to her house once before. _I am such a dork... _Dipper thought.

Just outside of Wendy's house, Dipper hid in a bush to scout out the house. He could see that a light was on inside. After a few minutes of waiting, he was just about to give up and move on. But then the door to Wendy's house swung open and out came Robbie.

_Yes! I knew it!_

Robbie shut the door, put his hood up over his head, and headed out into the forest. Dipper carefully followed him at a pretty good distance.

_I can't let him see, me. Who knows what he'll do to me if he catches me _Dipper thought with a slight shudder.

It felt like hours that he was tailing Robbie. The angsty teen was walking deeper and deeper into the forest. He didn't seem to be going anywhere in particular. In fact, it was as if he were wandering. After a few more minutes of walking, Robbie stopped in front of a large cave. The cave was carved into the base of one of the high mountains that surround the thick forests of Gravity Falls. Dipper stopped just a few feet away. He glanced at his watch to check the time. After all, he didn't want to be out too late. When he looked back up, he found Robbie standing menacingly in front of him. Dipper went white with fear.

"Alright, kid." he began threateningly "Why the hell are you following me?"

_How could he have known? I was extra careful not to make any noise!_

Getting no response from the frightened kid, Robbie reached out and grabbed Dipper by the collar.

"I'm not gonna ask again." Robbie raised a fist "You better tell me."

Thinking quickly, Dipper whipped up a faux story. "Well, I wasn't feeling so great... So, I decided to go out for a stroll."

Robbie kept his glare on Dipper. Dipper continued, "I just so happened to see you and decided to follow you to see if you wanted any company. I didn't want to outright say it because I know you don't like me."

Robbie wasn't falling for it. "Oh, so you just happened to be walking by Wendy's house on a midnight stroll? Is that it?" Robbie got closer to Dipper's face. "Or _were you spying on me_?"

_He knew the whole time? How could he possibly know I followed him from Wendy's house? I was so careful!_

"Okay, kid." Robbie began, he let go of Dipper's shirt and roughly shoved him to the ground. "You wanna play secret agent spy guy? Well, I'm gonna tell you everything you need to know."

Dipper could feel the malice in Robbie's voice.

_Was he actually going to tell me anything or pummel my face in for following him?_

Only time will tell...

"If you have to know my personal business, then Wendy is the only positive thing I have in my life right now." Robbie began, the biting tone in his voice suddenly began to trail off at the end of his sentence.

"See this cave?" he motioned toward the entrance of the dank, dark cave. "This is my home."

Dipper was quiet, staring at Robbie intently. Robbie continued "This is where I have to live because my parents don't give a crap about me. They're too busy getting drunk all the time." Robbie's voice began to break, tears welled up in his eyes.

Dipper's eyes widened; he was stunned at this admission from Robbie of all people.

"So before you try sabotaging me to get with Wendy, just remember that I have nobody but her to make me feel important in this world. At least you have a family that loves you." Robbie continued.

"Robbie, I..." Dipper began after his long silence "I'm really sorry man. I totally understand where you're coming from." He held out his hand and spoke once more. "From here on, I promise not to interfere with your's and Wendy's relationship."

Robbie looked at Dipper with sad eyes, took the kid's hand in a firm handshake, and spoke. "Thanks, kid. It took a lot of guts to say something like that, and I respect you for it."

With that, Dipper shot Robbie a smile and then made his way back to the Mystery Shack.

Robbie made sure Dipper was out of eyesight before he dropped his facade. He wiped the tears from his eyes and let out an obnoxious chuckle. "Ha, stupid kids these days will believe any old sob story." he spoke out to nobody in particular. "I can't believe that someone so smart would fall for such a stupid story as that." Robbie mocked. Robbie cackled loudly as he walked into the cave. He disappeared within the dark.

On Dipper's way back, he couldn't help but feel good at the kindness he showed his mortal enemy, Even though he was Dipper would be losing the girl of his dreams, he took comfort in the fact that she could hold Robbie's life together. Of course, he didn't know the truth behind Robbie's lie.

Just then, Dipper noticed a faint light on the trail he was walking on. It was getting closer and closer at a very fast pace. It was coming in way too fast, Dipper didn't have time to jump out of the way. So, he braced for impact. The bright object screeched to a halt in front of him.

Dipper looked up to see the strangest sight in awhile. It was a golf cart filled to the brim with an odd assortment of travellers. There was a giant blue jay and raccoon sitting in the passengers seat, with a living gumball machine behind the driver's wheel. In the backseat, there was an enormous yeti who was wearing jeans, an overweight green man with long shaggy hair, and a tall thin man with a head 100 times too big for his body. Right next to the green man floated a small ghost with a hand sticking out of the top of its head.

Dipper was speechless. He had never seen such a bizarre scene. It was about to get much weirder.

The blue jay got out of his seat, and approached Dipper.

_Oh my God! What do I do?_

_Should I run?_

_What are they going to do to me?_

A million thoughts and questions raced through Dipper's mind at that instant, But before he could react, he found that the blue jay had opened its mouth. _And it started talking._

"Hey there little dude. We're looking for someplace and I think we're a little lost."

Dipper didn't reply, he was too stunned at the talking bird.

"Do you know where to find a place called _**Gravity Falls**_?"


	5. Questions

"Uh, dude? You alright?" the blue jay questioned. He looked down hoping to get a response from the child in front of him.

Dipper, just overcoming the initial shock of the strange meeting, responded shakily.

"Yeah, I'm... I'm alright, I guess..."

A small smile appeared on the beak of the huge bird. "Well, that's good. Oh, my name's Mordecai by the way."

He held out his wing toward Dipper. Hesitantly, Dipper reached out and shook hands with the massive bird.

"N-nice to meet you. My name is Dipper."

From the cart full of the strange travelers, the raccoon burst out laughing.

"BAHAHAHA! What kinda name is Dipper? Seriously that's the lamest name I've ever heard of!"

the raccoon mocked.

Almost immediately, Mordecai turned and glared at the raucous raccoon. "Rigby, shut your hole right now! You have no room to talk about stupid names." Mordecai yelled at him, a smirk then came over his face. "Remember, Trash Boat?"

With that, Rigby crossed his arms and began pouting at Mordecai bringing up that embarrassing memory. All the others in the golf cart started laughing at Rigby's expense. Mordecai turned back to Dipper and addressed him once again.

"Sorry about him." Mordecai apologized. "He can be a real ass sometimes. Don't pay any attention to him when he's being one."

"It's alright, I'm not offended." Dipper replied sincerely. "In fact, that's the most common response I get from my name..."

"Well, I think it's actually a pretty cool name." Mordecai said with a kind smile. "But anyways, we're kinda lost out here in the woods. Would you know where to find a place called Gravity Falls?"

"Um, yeah sure. We're actually not too far from town." Dipper replied. "I could lead you guys there if you want."

Dipper was still suspicious of the travelers. After all, it's not every day that you meet such a vast array of odd characters like that.

_Who or what could they possibly want in Gravity Falls?_

"Awesome, dude! Thanks a lot!" Mordecai beamed, he then motioned to the cart. "Come on, hop in. We've still got a little room left."

"Alright then." Dipper replied as he approached the cart.

Mordecai got into the cart first, shoving Rigby (who refused to move over) out of the way to make room for Dipper. Dipper then took his seat next to Mordecai. It was then that the gumball machine turned to face him. He noticed that the gumball machine man looked overworked and exasperated. Heavy bags under his tired eyes. His brow furrowed in a near perpetual scowl. He then spoke to Dipper.

"Hey, I'm Benson." he spoke bluntly but tried to sound as pleasant as possible. "You're name's Dipper, right?"

Dipper nodded.

"Alright Dipper, please tell me which way to go." Benson said, shifting the cart out of park and into drive.

"You're already heading in the right direction. Just keep going down this road and we'll be there in a few minutes."

With that, the golf cart sped off into the night. The cool breeze that swept through the forest was intensified by the movement of the cart. Any trace left of the humidity of a summer's night was cast away. Feeling almost serene, Dipper realized something. It made his heart nearly jump into his throat. He glanced at his watch hoping not too much time had passed. He hoped in vain. In bright green numbers on the LCD screen of his watch displayed the time. It was 12:45 in the morning.

_Ugh, great... How am I going to explain this to Mabel? _A crushing wave of guilt washed over Dipper. He had promised Mabel that he wouldn't be out for too long. She was probably worried sick, pacing back and forth wondering when he would get back. Or even worse, she might fear that something terrible had happened to him and would then retreat into Sweater Town...

Dipper's thoughts were then interrupted by the old-timey man with the enormous head. He was staring at Dipper with such a look of pure excitement and joy, that Dipper couldn't help but smile back at him. This man's cheery attitude was indeed infectious. The man then took off his hat and with a slight bow addressed Dipper.

"Hello there, Dipper!" the man blurted out blissfully "My name is Pops! It is a true pleasure to make your acquaintance!"

Dipper still smiling responded, "Nice to meet you, Pops!" He still couldn't believe the true innocence and happiness coming from the large-headed man. It was truly a breath of fresh air in such a cynical and harsh world.

With a short giggle, Pops spoke again, "Do you happen to live in Gravity Falls, my good man?"

"Actually, yeah I do." Dipper replied "But only for the summer, though."

"Ah, jolly good show!"

Dipper was then silent for a moment, turning back to his thoughts.

_I wonder what these guys want with Gravity Falls... After all, there's nobody in town like them. There's nothing but humans who live here. What do they want with us?_

Dipper then quickly came up with a question to get them to divulge their purpose in Gravity Falls.

"Hey, so... Are you guys just coming to visit? Or do you have family here? Friends?" Dipper questioned the group.

Benson responded rather quickly. "We're looking for someone in your town. He has some very important information that we need to get from him."

"Oh, that sounds pretty serious." Dipper said, trying to come up with a follow-up question. "I know pretty much everyone in town, so maybe you could describe this guy to me and I can help you."

"Well, we weren't given a physical description of the guy," Benson began, eyes still fixed on the dirt road ahead of them. "But someone close to him said that his name had something to do with the name of this park."

_Park? What is he talking about?_

"Er – Park? What park?" Dipper asked in total confusion.

"Yeah, the park. You didn't know that your little town is actually inside of one of Quintel City's parks?" Benson questioned back suspiciously.

_I probably shouldn't have fell asleep on the car trip here to Gravity Falls at the beginning of summer. Otherwise I would've known this. Still, it is very unusual to have a town inside of a park._

"Um... Yeah, of course I knew!" Dipper lied. "But I'm always forgetting the name of the park... What is it again?"

"East Pines Park." Benson replied slightly annoyed by the boy's perceived ignorance.

At that moment, a sudden realization came over Dipper.

_Oh no..._

_The man's name that they're looking for has something to do with the park's name..._

_The park's name is East **Pines**..._

_We're the only family here in Gravity Falls with the last name Pines..._

_Could they be looking for Grunkle Stan?_

_What would they want with him?_

_What would they want with us?_

Dipper began to sweat as small waves of panic overcame him. A deep sense of worry and fear formed in the pit of his stomach from the worrisome thoughts.

"Hey, dude." The blue jay's voice snapped Dipper out of his internal thoughts. "You alright? Because you look like you're about to throw up or something."

Dipper tried to smile reassuringly, but could only manage to produce a slightly-pained looking grimace.

"Uh, yeah. Everything's totally fine." he tried to sound convincing as possible.

"Okay, if you insist." Mordecai wasn't convinced. He was about to ask Dipper again, when something caught his eye. He then spoke out "Hey, guys! We're here!"

The golf cart rolled through the entrance of the tiny town. A worn and weathered sign, colors dulled from countless years of being exposed to the outdoors read: WELCOME TO GRAVITY FALLS.

They went past the fishing docks, the diner, and the town square, but stopped outside of an intriguing looking building. It was none other than the Mystery Shack.

"Hey, this is where I live!" Dipper spoke excitedly. They all stepped out of the cart to get a better view of the building. But Dipper's excitement was short lived. With a loud bang, the front door of the Mystery Shack was thrown open. Out came four people.

A large man with a baseball cap wielding a shovel. He tried to look as serious as possible but actually came off as quite goofy.

A young girl with a huge sweater on despite the fact that it's the middle of summer. She was holding a grappling hook.

A tall redheaded girl wearing a lumberjack's hat. She was barely awake. She stood propped up on her weapon, an axe, trying to keep her eyes open. Probably from being woken up so suddenly during the middle of the night.

Then there was the old man wearing oversized glasses and a fez. He was brandishing a loaded 12-gauge shotgun. His eyes met Dipper's, and the old man instantly formed his face into a menacing scowl.

Dipper knew that look on his uncle's face. He had only seen it once before during the summer and was sure he would never want to see it again.

_Oh boy... Grunkle Stan is pissed!_

With a loud, growling tone Stan shouted at Dipper "WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT TIME IT IS?"

Dipper was scared into silence.

"MABEL WAS WORRIED SICK ABOUT YOU! SHE CAME IN AND WOKE ME UP, CRYING ABOUT HOW YOU NEVER CAME BACK AFTER SNEAKING OUT!"

The familiar pangs of guilt stabbed at Dipper for what he did to his poor sister.

I WOKE EVERYONE UP TO MAKE A SEARCH PARTY TO FIND YOU! WE THOUGHT YOU WERE MISSING OR EVEN DEAD!"

Dipper feebly replied to his great uncle "Look, I'm really sorry. But I can explain!"

Stan retorted back, "It better be a damn good explanation if you don't want to be working double overtime at the Mystery Shack for the rest of the summer."

And with that Dipper started to explain the events of the night.


	6. New Day

"You sure that's everything you need to tell me?" Stan bellowed out to his great nephew.

Dipper responded with a small nod, "Yup, that's everything."

Although it wasn't really the whole truthful story. Dipper conveniently left out the parts where trekked to Wendy's house and stalked Robbie through the forest. He felt Stan didn't need to know everything...

"Let me get this straight," Stan grunted, his eyes narrowing at Dipper "You snuck out at nearly midnight to go for a stroll in the forest."

Stan then pointed offhandedly to the park crew. "Then you just so happened to find a golf cart full of these circus freaks, then get in their cart and help them get here?"

This comment elicited an angry outburst from the strange group, particularly by Muscle Man and Rigby.

"Yeah, that's absolutely how it went." Dipper replied, hoping his great uncle wouldn't see through his ruse.

"Geez, didn't anyone tell you not to get in cars with strangers? I thought you were supposed to be the smart one..." Stan retorted mockingly. "Also, you're story doesn't really make sense."

Dipper's heart started to pound rapidly. He knew he was going to be in trouble. Big time.

"But since I'm losin' sleep every second I'm sitting here and seeing as you're not dead, I'll let it slide this time." Stan said with a yawn.

_Whoa... I was definitely not expecting that _Dipper thought, still in shock from Stan's words.

"But before we all go back to bed," Stan grunted, fixing his gaze on the park crew "What are we gonna do about those guys?"

Benson, seeing himself as the probable leader of the group, was the one to respond to Stan. "Well, sir. We have some business in town that we have to attend to."

Stan stared back, half-listening and half-falling asleep, at the gumball machine talking in front of him.

"But all of us are tired from our trip here. So, do you have any room around here for us to stay for the night?" Benson asked of the increasingly sleepy-looking old man in front of him.

"Lucky for you, I am a generous man." Stan lied through his teeth.

"We've just added an extra room to the Mystery Shack. It's currently unfinished so you guys can crash there for the night."

Benson breathed a sigh of relief. This long day of theirs was finally going to come to an end. He couldn't wait to slip into the comforting release of a deep sleep. But then in the morning it would be back to the business at hand. Back to the reality of the mystery they had to solve...

"Of course, there is a small fee for staying the night." Stan added with a sly smile.

The old man just couldn't resist making a quick buck.

Benson's face sank back into the usual stony scowl that he wore. He knew somehow that there would be a catch... But he didn't care. As long as he and his employees were well-rested for their search tomorrow, he felt it was well worth the money. So with a grim expression, Benson reached into his wallet and produced a messy wad of money.

"It's not much, but it's all I have. Will it be enough?" Benson asked Stan as he held the money out.

Stan snatched the wad of money and counted it with uncanny quickness. It was almost as if he knew how much there was before he even counted.

_$86 and a couple coupons for Wing Kingdom? Geez, that's disappointing... _Stan thought to himself as he counted the money. A thought then occurred to him that made him smile slightly.

_Eh, I'll just have them make up the rest of the fee tomorrow._

The grizzled con-artist wanted every cent he felt he was entitled to.

"This will do for now..." Stan began, eying Benson the whole time "But you'll have to help out around here to pay for the rest of the boarding fee."

Benson, too tired to protest, just agreed to Stan's terms "Yeah, sure, whatever. We just need to rest right now, Mr. ..."

"Just call me Stan, or Mr. Mystery, the proprietor, owner, and imagineer of the Mystery Shack." Stan replied.

"Yeah, we'll just stick to calling you Stan." Benson said flatly.

After that, the park workers and Mystery Shack employees introduced themselves to one another. Then everybody dispersed to finally settle in for the night. Soos and Wendy walked out the door to return to their respective homes. The twins and Stan headed up the staircase to their rooms on the second floor of the Mystery Shack. The park crew then settled in their designated room, each sleeping on a musty old cot or a lumpy sofa.

As Stan slipped into bed, just aching to go back to sleep, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was amiss about the odd crew that just showed up on his doorstep. He felt that a certain person in the group seemed oddly familiar...

_The man with the giant head... Have I seen him before? Something about that guy just seemed waaay to familiar..._

Stan wracked his brain to try and find any memory related to large-headed fellow. In Stan's advanced age it took awhile for him to recollect any distant memories. Just when he was about to chalk the experience up to deja vu, he had a slight flashback to a time from long ago. From a time when he was a happy and successful young man. But that brief nostalgia was intercepted by a slight worry. The closest thing Stan felt to genuine fear in a long time.

_No, it can't be... _

_He can't be..._

_Why is he here?_

Stan decided to push these questions out of his mind. His heavy eyelids started to fall. It was no use to fight sleep any longer. And with that, everyone in the Mystery Shack was fast asleep.

_Ugh... Why does morning have to come so quickly? _

Stan reached for his glasses on the side table next to his bed. Once they were fixed properly to his face, he turned his attention to the blaring alarm clock. It displayed the time in bright red numbers, while producing a painfully loud alarm. Stan slapped the button and rose up out of bed. As he got up, he could feel and hear his joints and bones popping from his many long years on Earth.

He shuffled out of the door and into the hallway. Stan noticed that the door to the twins' room was wide open and they were nowhere in sight. They obviously were already wide awake. So, Stan makes his way down the creaking staircase and into the kitchen. He then sees what the twins were up to.

They had turned the room into a giant dining room of sorts. They took all the collapsible tables and folding chairs and had set them all up. Every one of Stan's surprise houseguests from the night before were seated at these tables. The twins had apparently cooked a huge breakfast for everyone in the Mystery Shack. Even Soos and Wendy were here.

_Well, that's a first. I've never seen them here so early before a work shift... _Stan thought cynically.

"GOOD MORNING GRUNKLE STAN!" cried a shrill voice.

Stan knew immediately by the ear piercing volume of the voice that it came from none other than his hyperactive great-niece, Mable. He cringed from the verbal assault on his ears.

"Yeah, yeah... Take it down a notch, kid. It's too early in the morning to be yelling." Stan grumbled as he took his seat at one of the few tables. He sat down between Dipper and the gumball machine man Benson. Stan took a plateful of pancakes, and dug into the food immediately.

He then noticed Benson looking straight at him.

"So, uh... You guys sleep alright last night?" Stan asked of the gumball machine.

"Yeah, it wasn't too bad." Benson replied. "At least we got a little rest."

"Good, good..." Stan grunted indifferently.

He then remembered his scheme from the previous night.

"So, today you can all start paying off the rest of the money you owe me for stayin' here." Stan addressed the group with a mischievous grin. "I have the perfect solution as to how you can do so."

Benson didn't like the sound of it already...

"Okay then. The sooner we pay up, the sooner we can be on our way." Benson spoke in reply.

"Seeing how the Mystery Shack is a place where people come to see various oddities, and seeing how you guys are oddities," Stan explained "You all will be part of my next attraction: Freaks From the

Forest!"

Cries of protest from the park crew filled the air of the kitchen. After all, they didn't come all the way to Gravity Falls to become some sideshow attraction for an elderly conman.

Benson suppressed the urge to punch the old codger right in his big fat nose. He replied to Stan in as nice a tone as he could muster at that point.

"There has to be another way, because we sure as hell aren't doing that."

"You forget that I took you in from the outdoors out of the generosity of my heart." Stan reminded them, trying to make them feel guilty.

"Well, if it was really out of the kindness of your heart, then you wouldn't be nickel-and-diming us for money we don't have." Benson retorted in a more biting tone of voice.

"Do you realize how ungrateful you sound right now?" Stan mocked. "Look, you agreed to the terms last night. Either you go along with this or I call the cops."

Stan was hoping Benson wouldn't call his bluff. Stan knew damn well that Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland were the most incompetent pair of police officers to ever be on the force.

"Once we leave town, we'll gladly send you a check for the rest of the amount owed." Benson offered. "Because I'll be damned if my employees and I have to be ogled at by fat, sunburnt tourists all day."

"Pfft, yeah I've heard that song and dance before..." Stan snarked. "You wouldn't be the first to try and promise money and then just skip town. I know all the tricks, son."

"I'm sorry but we have other business in town. Important business." Benson said with finality "More important than dealing with a penny-pinching geezer like yourself."

Stan had heard enough. He slammed his fist down on the table. He got up from his seatand roared at the gumball machine "HOW DARE YOU! NOBODY TALKS TO STANFORD J. PINES LIKE THAT AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!"

Benson was about to return fire with his own personal brand of screaming that had been thoroughly honed by having to put up with Mordecai and Rigby for the few months they had worked for him.

But then Gene's words rung in his mind. Specifically about the mystery man they were supposed to find.

"_**The name of this man has something to do with the name of this park. That's all I can tell you."**_

_East **Pines **Park..._

_Stanford J. **Pines**..._

_Oh my god, this is the man Gene was trying to lead us to..._

Snapping out of his inner thoughts, Benson looked calmly yet intently at the furious old man before him.

His voice was steady and emotionless.

"Mr. Pines, what do you know about Quintel-Marin Park and our boss, Ogden Maellard?"

Stan paused suddenly from his verbal tirade, almost as if he were punched in the gut and couldn't draw in another breath. He turned completely pale and fell back into his seat nearly fainting. His mouth opened, trying to form some semblance of a coherent word in reply. But it was futile. No sound would escape his throat.

"Uh, Grunkle Stan are you feeling alright?" Dipper asked worriedly as he saw his great uncle act strangely.

Stan didn't acknowledge any of his words. All he could do was think.

_Oh shit..._

_I was hoping that I would never have to face this day..._

_But if they're here..._

_That must mean..._

_God help us all..._


	7. Interrogation

_There's no use in hidings the truth..._

_They need to know what to expect..._

Stan took awhile to compose himself. He shakily got up from the chair he had collapsed into minutes ago. Shifting most of his weight onto his magic 8-ball cane for support, he looked up and slowly eyed everyone in the room. With every face he passed over, all he could see was shocked expressions. After all, they had no idea why Stan had suddenly nearly fainted.

Stan cleared his throat, then spoke. His gravelly voice at an almost inaudible whisper. Much different than his usual booming, arrogant tone.

"Benson, have you and your people follow me."

With that, Stan made his way over to the old, beat-up vending machine. He started to press buttons on the machine.

"Come on, old dude! This is no time for a snack, bro!" Muscle Man exclaimed obnoxiously. "He must be goin' senile..."

By the time Muscle Man had finished his outburst, Stan had finished pressing buttons on the vending machine. Suddenly, the vending machine shifted over to reveal a hidden door. Stan motioned for the group to follow him in. As the park crew walked into the room one by one, Stan turned his attention to his own employees.

"Listen up, kids. Under no circumstances are you to try and open this door to follow us."

He was gravely serious. It was so unsettling to the twins, who had never seen their great uncle act in such a manner.

"Soos, make sure they stay put up here."

Soos lifted his hand to his forehead in a salute, "You got it, Mr. Pines."

Stan then disappeared into the darkness through the doorway. The vending machine slid back into place with a slam. It must be locked from the inside as they also heard a series of clicks on the other side of the door.

"Well, it's official. This is the strangest day I've ever had..." Wendy said with a short laugh as she sat back down at the table. "Insane boss, talking animals, a talking gumball machine... That pretty much tops everything else."

Dipper didn't find this whole scene amusing. He had a slight itch to find out what was going on in the secret room.

_What could be going on that would make Grunkle Stan of all people act like that?_

The cogs in his head were once again working overtime, trying to devise a plan to break into the room.

"Wendy, Mabel, come over here." Dipper whispered across the room. He glanced over to see what Soos was doing. Luckily, Soos continued to finish his breakfast while simultaneously watching whatever was currently on the television. It probably wasn't Stan's best idea to leave Soos in charge. Wendy and Mabel snuck over to Dipper. They sat down next to him, listening intently.

"Okay, I don't know about you girls but I really want to know what's going on around here." Dipper spoke hushedly. "You wanna help me find a way into that secret room?"

Mabel nodded, her metal-mouthed smile growing wide at the prospect of another adventure.

"Absolutely." Wendy replied eagerly "I seriously want to to know what freaked Stan out so badly. Maybe I could use it against him to get a pay raise..."

"I want to do this too!" Mabel started, "But first, how are we gonna get past Soos?"

They all stopped to think for a moment. Once again, Dipper had a solution. He raced into the next room, being careful to tiptoe past Soos, and reached into a drawer filled with cheap Mystery Shack novelty items. Dipper fished around in the drawer until he finally grasped the object he was searching for. Rushing back into the room, he sat back at the table with a small smile.

"So... Where'd you go?" Wendy questioned.

"Only to find our Soos solution." Dipper replied slyly. He pulled the small item out from his jacket pocket. "Behold! The World's Most Distracting Object!"

"Ha ha! Good thinking, my little genius!" Wendy beamed as she playfully punched Dipper in the arm.

Dipper blushed and tipped his head forward to adjust his hat. He really didn't want to look embarrassed in front of his older crush.

"Heh heh, right... Let's get going!" Dipper blurted out, still slightly red from embarrassment.

The trio of teenagers made their way over to Soos. Their bumbling "guard" was fixated on the television screen in front of him.

"Soos! Soos! Check out what we found!" Mabel screeched while flailing her arms about.

"Whoa, Hambone, Chill out!" Soos called out clearly confused.

"Dipper found something amazing that you just have to check out!"

"Dude, show me!"

Dipper then produced the World's Most Distracting Object from his pocket and handed it to Soos. Soos looked baffled by the odd item.

"Uh, is it a lollipop?" Soos asked. He raised the object to his mouth, about to take a bite out of it.

"No! NO! Soos, don't eat it!" Dipper cried out as he rushed over to Soos' side. He grabbed the object just a second before Soos clamped his jaw down. Dipper then held the object, pulled the pullstring on the side, and handed it back to Soos. The black-and-white circle at the top of the object started to spin in a hypnotic way. Immediately, Soos was transfixed by the object, he barely was even blinking anymore.

"Oh, dude this is awesome!" Soos exclaimed still staring. "I'm just gonna stare at this thing for awhile and rethink everything..."

The kids then made their way over to the vending machine. For the longest time, the kids believed the machine to be out of order. Nobody ever bought anything from it. In fact, most of the various snacks inside were either sold out or had a few left still in the machine. Now they knew why nobody ever touched the machine. It was actually a front for a secret door.

"Right, so how are we supposed to open this thing now?" Wendy asked.

"Good question..." Dipper replied.

He had finally run out of ideas.

"Oh, wait a minute!" Wendy shouted. "The ventilation shafts in this dump are huge right?"

"Well, yeah but I don't see how –" Dipper suddenly realized what she meant. "OH! We can crawl through the ducts and find the one that leads to the secret room!"

"Bingo! We have a winner!" Wendy teased in reply.

With that, the trio unscrewed the nearest vent, climbed one by one into the air duct, and began their search.

–

_They have to know how it will all end for them._

Stan had been mostly silent, trying to find a way to start off the difficult conversation that was about to take place. He kicked around a few ideas, with each sounding worse than the last. Finally, he just settled on winging it instead of planning. He'd have to tell them the truth anyways...

"How do you guys know Ogden?" Stan started off. He already knew the answer. It was obvious to him.

"He's our employer. We work at the park across town: Quintel-Marin Park." Benson replied. "But the real question is how do you know Mr. Maellerd?"

Stan knew this question was coming. He decided to give the short answer first.

"Well, seeing that I'm the owner of East Pines Park, I should know my enemy. Should I not?"

Stan's words echoed through the dark room. Every single one of the park crew had their mouths agape at this revelation.

"Wow, that was not what I was expecting..." Benson said, still dumbfounded. "So, can you explain to me why my park was attacked by some kind of shadow monster and why it left this behind?"

Benson produced the wooden coin and tossed it across the conference table towards Stan. Stan then picked it up and examined it.

_Yep, this is the monster's mark... _Stan thought to himself as a strong twang of guilt formed in the pit of his stomach.

"To explain that, I'll have to tell you everything from the beginning. But I'm warning you, the answers you seek might not be what you want to hear." Stan warned.

"Tell us anyway, we need to know." Benson responded shortly.

"Roughly fifty years ago, Ogden and I were young entrepreneurs and business partners. We decided that a quick way to establish ourselves in the business world was to construct a park and gain revenue from the city. However, we could not agree on what kind of a park we wanted to create. Ogden wanted to make a normal one where people could go to relax and enjoy the outdoors. As for me, I always had a passion for mystery and adventure. I wanted to create a park where people would come and hunt for mythical and mysterious creatures. By some questionable means, I came across instructions on how to release these creatures into our world. Ogden, however, thought it was complete nonsense and that nobody would believe it. I became resentful of Ogden, eventually quitting the partnership and taking my half of the money. We each constructed our separate parks and have been rivals ever since."

"Wait, that still doesn't answer our questions though." Benson interrupted.

"I'm getting to it." Stan rebutted, slightly annoyed by the interruption. "Anyways, the rivalry eventually turned into a prank war when one of his employees used the old whoopie-cushion gag on my own employee. Ever since, our parks had been at a constant prank war with no end in sight. In the book where I found the instructions to summon mythical creatures, I saw a page that caught my eye. It described an entity that would give whoever summons it one wish. I summoned the creature with the intentions of ending the prank war in victory for my park. The creature itself would send out other creatures to do its dirty work and try to put your park out of commission."

"Well, that explains why strange creatures keep attacking the park every other day..." Benson said sarcastically. "But what about this shadow monster that really did try to kill us?"

"That is the entity himself. After countless failures by his minions, he decided to take matters into his own hands. He decided the best way to end the prank war was if there was nobody left to retaliate. In other words, he wants to murder you all to end the war."

"WHAT? You sent a bloodthirsty demon after us? What the hell is wrong with you?" Mordecai shouted out. All the other park employees were shouting similar statements at Stan.

Stan held up his hands defensively.

"I never had any intention to murder you guys. Only to end the prank war! The demon took it upon himself to decide the way to end it."

"Okay, calm down everyone." Benson commanded. His own voice sounded shaky and unsure. "How exactly are we supposed to kill this thing or send it away?"

Stan gulped, then answered "There is no way. Once the demon has been unleashed in the mortal world. It can't be sent back unless the wish is completed."

"Alright then we forfeit. You guys win the prank war!" Benson spoke out desperately.

Stan shoulders sunk, he shook his head. "It doesn't work that way. The demon dictates how the terms of the wish are to be fulfilled. And that is through murdering all of you."

"Great, so we're all fucked..." Muscle Man spat dejectedly.

"Can we at least get some information on this thing?" Benson questioned "Because if we're gonna die, we're gonna die fighting."

"There's not much to tell about it other than what you already know. It makes its presence known by the sky turning black and purple and by the droning noise it makes. I guess the only thing you don't know is its name. The name of the little bastard is G–"

**bump!**

**BANG!**

**CRASH!**

The large air vent in the room collapsed and landed with a bang on the conference table. The table splintered under the immense weight. Everybody in the room was accounted for, and nobody had been injured. They all stared in shock at the vent that had spontaneously fallen from the ceiling above. Then some faint groans came from inside the vent.

Out from the vent climbed the three kids: Dipper, Mabel, and Wendy. They were all visibly shaken up by their fall but seemed to be okay.

"WHAT DID I TELL YOU LITTLE BRATS?" Stan roared at the top of his lungs "NONE OF THIS CONCERNS YOU!"

"Grunkle Stan, wait we were just–"

"OH, I KNOW WHAT YOU WERE DOING. YOU WERE STICKING YOUR NOSE IN OTHER PEOPLE'S BUSINESS! YOU'VE BEEN DOING IT ALL SUMMER!"

Stan was about to continue his tirade, when once again the awful droning sound echoed throughout the small room. What little light there was left turned into a mixture of black and purple. The door that led to the secret room was ripped off its hinge and thrown down into the room. They looked into the doorway and saw the shadow creature slowly hovering towards them. It stopped in front of Stan and looked straight at him. In the otherworldly tone of voice, it addressed him.

"Stanford Pines, did you really think telling them about me would stop me from killing them?"

No response came from the guilt-stricken Grunkle. After all, it was all his fault.

"I already told Gene, and now I'll tell you: there's NOTHING that will stop me from completing my task and leaving this pitiful world."

"Oh my God! Grunkle Stan, what is that thing?" Dipper shouted in fear.

The creature turned its attention to the small boy. A look of twisted amusement came across its face.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Dipper Pines." the creature taunted, feigning surprise.

"What are you? And how do you know me?" Dipper squeaked out, unknowingly cowering behind Wendy.

"Oh my, now where are my manners? You merely don't recognize me in this form." the monster mocked sarcastically.

The demon then started to contort and twist into odd shapes. Its head and arms twisting sickeningly in different odd ways. Its torso became short and round. Its limbs shot back into its body to make stubby arms and legs. Ontop of its head sprouted white hair that was nearly as tall as it was now. Its nose beacme wide and upturned, almost piglike. Then finally it sprouted a powder blue suit that covered its whole body. As its transformation was complete, Dipper stared on in utter shock at the familiar face in front of him.

"Now then, don't you recognize _'lil ol' me?_"


	8. Shadow

**A/N: Sorry about the long time without a story update. Our internet was down for about a week and was just restored today. So, here's the next chapter. Reviews and critiques are always welcome!**

**Also I have a new story being uploaded soon, so be sure to check that out.**

"GIDEON?" Dipper blurted out in total shock, his eyes widened. Confused, Dipper turned his attention to Stan and asked, "Grunkle Stan, what's going on?"

The look on Stan's face was one of complete defeat. He wanted to keep the kids out of this business. They were the only ones left who thought he had a shred of human decency left. But now, he would have to tell them. They would all know how his petty actions would lead to the deaths of innocent people.

"Well now, Stanford, you might as well tell them what's happening..." Gideon mocked, his voice had changed back into the familiar high pitched southern drawl that they were all used to hearing. "They need to know what a complete monster you are..."

Gideon's face contorted into an expression of wicked satisfaction.

Stan inhaled, then let his breath out slowly.

_Well, here goes nothing..._

"Long story short: our visitors are employees of a rival park to this one. I'm the owner of this very park. For countless years, our parks were locked in a vicious prank war. Seeing a quick way to victory, I found the means to summon a demon to end it all. That demon is this little psycho over here." Stan pointed a Gideon.

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Stanford." Gideon laughed at Stan's verbal barb. "Now, pray tell, how did you come upon the ancient words to summon me? Did you _**read **_about it somewhere? In a certain _**book **_perhaps?"

"You know damn well that's where I found it." Stan retorted back. He then crossed over to the other side of the room to a locked filing cabinet. He fiddled with the combination and threw open the drawer. Stan then procured a dusty old book and held it out for Gideon to see.

Dipper was once again floored by what he saw. The book that Stan had pulled out from the drawer was a red book with a golden six-fingered hand on the cover. In the center of the hand a number was etched in black. It was the number 1.

_Oh, my God! Grunkle Stan had the missing volume this whole time?_

_But if he has Book 1 and I have Book 3, then where is Book 2?_

"You know as well as I do that I have the first volume and you have the second volume." Stan roared at Gideon. "But for the last time, I do not know where the third is."

_Well, that took no time at all..._

_So Gideon has the second book..._

_And Grunkle Stan has the first?_

_This is too much for a kid my age..._

"Well, Stanford I must say that I am disappointed, but I guess it really doesn't matter anyways..." Gideon said indifferently "After all, they still have to die."

He pointed his chubby finger at the group that hailed from Quintel-Marin Park.

"Die? Why do they have to die? What did they do?" Dipper found himself asking before he could stop himself.

Gideon once again wore that evilly smug smirk.

"Well, Stanford summoned me to make the other park lose the prank war. So that's what I'm just gonna do." Gideon spoke with a chuckle. "And if there's no opposing employees to fight back, then I guess Stan's park wins."

Stan hung his head in shame. The truth was out. Due to his actions those innocent men from the opposing park would be murdered. And now, his own flesh and blood knew. Stan knew they would be disappointed in him.

_In a way, I'm just as much as a monster as Gideon here..._

_A heartless monster who let greed cloud my judgment for so long..._

_Now these men will die for something that didn't really concern them..._

_And the kids..._

_They'll never look at me the same way again..._

"Well now, it's been fun exposing Stanford for what he really is, but now it's time for y'all to meet your untimely demise." Gideon sneered, suppressing the urge to giggle from the sheer excitement of the thought.

**CRACK!**

A deep fissure opened up in the floor of the basement. Fire spewed from the maw of the newly formed chasm. Spirits drifted up and out and around the room. The deafening roar of a motorcycle engine pierced the eerie quiet of the room. A motorcycle shot out of the fissure and skidded to a halt in front of everybody. As the fissure closed itself, the person riding the bike got off and stood in front of everyone.

"Death! My ol' friend!" Gideon spoke with false enthusiasm. "Have you lost weight? You look to be nothin' but skin and bones!" Gideon cackled madly "Or at least just bones!"

Death was not amused. "Stuff it, you fat git. I didn't come by to exchange pleasantries with a psycho like you." Death growled. "I'm just here to collect these souls and be off."

Death then shot a nasty look in Skips' direction, "With the exception of Skips of course, seeing as he's immortal..."

Skips, with his unchanging scowl, addressed his old rival sarcastically. "It's nice to see you too, Death..."

"Immortal, eh? Well, I must say that is very disappointing." Gideon growled in response.

"Please, Death, there has to be something you can do about this." Mordecai pleaded. "Remember how you gave us a chance to save Muscle Man, or the time you gave Skips a chance to take Rigby back?"

Death just shook his head.

"Can't be done, mate. I cannot interfere with the dealings of a demon. That's just how the underworld works..." Death replied, coolly indifferent to their plight.

"Now then, let's get this show started!" Gideon shouted. The room once again turned that sickly shade of black and purple. The park crew found themselves being lifted into the air. They were powerless to stop what was being done to them. Their limbs contorted in sickening ways. They could feel the excruciating pain, yet their bones would not break. Gideon was intentionally making them suffer before ending them. After a few minutes of this horrible display, Gideon was about to deliver the killing blow.

Suddenly a flash of green and red darted across the room, heading full force at Gideon. Wendy had run into a full sprint at Gideon, and slammed her shoulder into him with all the force she could muster out of her slender frame. The demon toppled over, his psychic grip on the park crew had been broken. They all fell to the floor with a large thud.

Gideon shot back up, furious at the fiery-haired girl.

"YOU LITTLE BITCH! HOW DARE YOU!" Gideon roared at the top of his lungs. His behavior became more unhinged, more violent, more deranged.

Wendy was about to charge again when she found a hand on her shoulder holding her back. Struggling against the grip futilely, she turned around to see who it was that was holding her back.

It was her moody boyfriend Robbie.

"Robbie, how did you –" Wendy attempted to ask but was cut short.

"There's no time to explain now, we have to get out of here now!" Robbie frantically yelled at his girlfriend.

He then released the grip on her shoulder, and held his hand out offering for her to take it.

"Robbie, I have to stay and help them! They're innocent people who are about to be killed over some bullshit feud." Wendy offered that abridged explanation, as she once again turned to face the demon, Gideon.

As she turned her back, she felt an intense pain, unlike any she'd experienced before, in her back then toppled to the floor. A pool of blood quickly surrounded the broken redhead.

Dipper let out a gut-wrenching scream.

"NO, WENDY!"

As Wendy had turned around, she hadn't seen Robbie stick the knife in her. She hadn't seen his eyes turn into that familiar shade of black and purple. She hadn't seen the unnatural purple aura that surrounded his body. All she knew was the agony of being impaled from behind.

"W– Why?" she gasped, barely audible. It just occurred to her who had been the one to run her through with the knife. Tears filled her eyes, they dripped down her face and into the slowly-growing puddle of blood around her.

Dipper rushed over to her side, nearly sobbing as he did so. He held her in his arms trying frantically to keep her alive and well. It was no use. She was fading fast. Her head spinning from the massive blood loss. Her vision became blurry, everything was fading to black so quickly. The last thing she saw was the panicked face of her young friend trying desperately to keep her in the mortal world. His mouth formed words but she could not hear them. She tried to speak but no words came out. And with that, Wendy Corduroy was no more.

Absolutely heartbroken, Dipper collapsed on top of the lifeless Wendy crying his eyes out.

"NO! NO! NOOO! WHY?" Dipper found himself repeating the same questions over and over again.

She was gone. There was no way to get her back. Yet Dipper couldn't believe it. He didn't want to believe it. But deep down inside he knew. The thought alone sickened him.

Dipper's mind snapped back into action. He then remembered who the assailant was.

_Robbie._

"Where's Robbie? I'll kill him... I'LL KILL HIM!" Dipper raged, his words lashing the air harshly.

In a fury, Dipper's head shot back up to look for the lanky teen. He looked where Robbie had previously been when he stabbed Wendy but he wasn't there. Instead, he found Robbie floating next to Gideon. Robbie had that purple aura around him and his eyes were still clouded with black and purple. Gideon had a satisfied smirk on his face as he stared back at Dipper.

"What's the matter, Dipper? You seem a bit upset..." he taunted the young boy mercilessly. "I had to teach that interfering harlot a lesson."

Dipper glared, his teeth clenched. He waited for Gideon to continue his speech.

"My shadow minion, Robbie, sure took care of her didn't he?" Gideon mocked, then let out a cackle of pure delight.


	9. Escape

"OI! GIDEON! WHAT THE 'ELL WAS THAT ALL ABOUT!" roared the Death as he took a menacing step forward.

"None o' these children were scheduled to die today!" Death continued his tirade, then let out a huge exasperated sigh. "Great, now I'm gonna have to explain this bloody mess to the Guardians of Eternal Youth..."

Gideon just laughed. His horrible cackle echoed off the walls of the small room.

"My, my! I'm so sorry about that, Death!" Gideon cooed insincerely. "She did test my patience though, so I say that it's justified!"

Dipper was still staring at Gideon and the floating form of Robbie. He glared, looking as if he would charge over there himself and beat them both to death. But Dipper knew what would happen if he even attempted to try that...

Gideon noticed Dipper's pained, angered expression and continued his cruel mockery of the emotionally broken boy.

"Dipper Pines, don't look so pitiful. After all, she did deserve it..." Gideon sneered, he levitated himself closer to Dipper.

"I don't understand... I thought Robbie... Why... Why did he do that?" Dipper stammered trying to form coherent words from his jumbled thoughts.

"Robbie here," Gideon started, he motioned towards the floating teenager. "Is not actually a human at all. He is merely one of my minions from the realm in which I am from."

At this point, nothing surprised Dipper anymore. He remained silent waiting for Gideon to continue.

"In fact, none of the people in this town are human. They're all just like Robbie. Slaves from my world who do my bidding." Gideon gloated with an awful, evil smile. He then turned his attention to Stan. "Well, not all of them... Maybe you should once again explain the rest, Stanford."

"This town... If you look on any map of the surrounding area, you won't find this town on it." Stan said slowly. He was still recovering from the shock of Wendy being slaughtered right in front of his eyes.

"Gideon created the town as a prison for me. I'm trapped here until he fulfills his end of the bargain. He populated the town with his minions to keep an eye on me in case I tried to escape."

Stan cleared his throat and then continued. "The only normal humans in this town are myself and the Corduroy family. So, when I heard you kids were coming to visit for the summer, I tried everything in my power to try and keep you away from here..."

Stan then paused briefly, an immense feeling of uneasiness washed over him as he spoke again.

"Because now you're trapped here as well..."

"That's right, Dipper. I know _everything_ that goes on here. I just couldn't pass up a chance to torture the new kid in town. So, I sent 'Robbie' out here to make your life hell." Gideon smugly stated. His eyes were narrowed, brows down in a scowl, his mouth formed a sneering smile.

This was all so much to take in at once. A nasty headache started to pound away inside Dipper's skull. Too much had gone on in such a small amount of time.

"I... You..." Dipper feebly sputtered, still not fully comprehending everything that had just transpired.

He just wished it was all a dream. That he could wake up and this situation would magically go away. He wished he had never met the strange travelers in the woods. He wished he didn't know his Grunkle's secret agenda. He wished everything was back to normal.

But most of all, he wished that he could have Wendy back.

"Now, I think since I was so rudely interrupted before, that I will finish what I started so that I can leave this cursed mortal world." Gideon spat venomously, his eyes started to glow as he ascended toward the ceiling.

"NOW, IT'S TIME TO D–" Gideon's words were cut off. He gasped, then fell flat on the ground. His companion Robbie did the same. They both writhed and twitched on the cold floor.

"What the hell? What's going on?" Stan shouted in confusion. His eyes darted around the room looking at each person as if they could give him an explanation. He then saw the yeti acting in a very strange way. He was skipping around in a small circular pattern while chanting something under his breath.

"Of course! Skips' spirit dance worked on this monster back at the park! Keep going, dude!" Mordecai sounded triumphantly as he watched Skips perform the ritual.

"This is no time to celebrate, Mordecai! Everyone, out of the room now!" Benson ordered, as he made his way toward the door. "Skips, hold him off for as long as you can!"

With Skips keeping Gideon occupied, the park crew, the Pines twins and their Grunkle all made a mad dash for the doorway.

"Everyone, follow me!" Stan shouted as they tried to keep up with the surprisingly-fast-for-his-age old

man.

They passed through the kitchen, seeing Soos still being mesmerized by the World's Most Distracting Object.

"Soos! Soos! Follow us! Forget that stupid thing!" Dipper called out to the man-child.

"Um okay, dude. But I'm taking it with me!" Soos replied, unsure of what to make of the situation.

Stan led them to a room on the tourist side of the Mystery Shack. He then unlatched a huge metal door, opened it up, and allowed everyone inside. It slammed shut and was locked from the inside. Fumbling around in the darkness, Stan finally found the light switch. After a few seconds, the shoddy lights burst forth with light. Inside the room, there were many costumes and boxes filled with Mystery Shack novelty items.

"We should be safe here in the storage room," Stan grunted, panting after every few words from all the running. "At least for as long as your friend can hold off Gideon."

They sat there silently in the dim lighting for a few minutes. Nobody said a word at all. Dipper found himself thinking that if there was ever a good time to reveal Book 3 to Stan, then now would be it. He reached inside his vest and pulled out Book 3 from his hidden pocket.

"Grunkle Stan, I found this in the woods the first week we arrived here." Dipper spoke as he showed Stan the book. "I guess it's not important since there's no way to stop Gideon anyway..."

Stan's mouth stood agape as he saw his great nephew holding the lost volume.

"Dipper, this is great!" Stan boasted excitedly. "Now we have a fighting chance against that little bastard!"

"Whoa, hold up. I thought you said there was no way to stop this Gideon guy." Benson said skeptically, his eyes narrowing at the old man.

"Well, to be honest, I only said that because I thought that volume that Dipper has was lost forever." Stan explained as he took out Book 1.

"But now, we have a shot at sending him back to his own world without having to sacrifice your employees!" Stan said as he opened up his book.

"Y'see, in each of the 3 books, there is a small excerpt of an incantation that can undo the deal, and send Gideon away. Right now, we have Book 1 and Book 3, while Gideon has Book 2." Stan told the group in front of him.

Off to the side, Soos was looking as confused as ever.

"Mabel, dude, what's going on?" Soos questioned the little girl at his side.

"It's a loooooong story Soos. We'll tell you when everything is back to normal.

"Awesome." was Soos' answer as he went back to staring at the Distracting Object.

"Anyways," Stan said, slightly annoyed by the sidebar conversation. "We need a way to distract Gideon to get Book 2 from him."

"Can't Skips just keep doing his spirit dance thing?" Mordecai questioned. "It seemed to work fine at the park.

Stan shook his head. "No, it won't work on Gideon forever. Eventually, he's gonna get past your friend and come after us."

Everyone was once again silent, contemplating how they could get the book from the monster currently fighting against Skips.

The silence was broken by a loud bang and a blinding flash of light. Out of thin air Death appeared once again in front of the group of mortals. He did not look happy at all.

"Honestly, you lot couldn't just roll over and let Gideon kill you, eh? I've got a very tight schedule y'know. You were supposed to be dead at least an hour ago!" Death roared as he pointed a bony finger at the park crew. "But now I have to wait for him to find you and kill you so I can then finally take your souls to the underworld..."

"You of all people should know we don't go down without a fight, Death." Mordecai retorted back at the reaper. "Remember when we had to babysit your kid to get Muscle Man back?"

Dipper's eyes widened at the name Muscle Man. He looked over at the short, fat, green-skinned man and surveyed him from head to toe. An ingenious idea once again had formed in his head.

_Wait a minute..._

_Muscle Man could..._

_Yes! This has to work! It's perfect!_

Dipper sprang up and ran over to Muscle Man. He looked back at the child with an expression of utter confusion.

"Um... What's up little, bro?" Muscle Man asked awkwardly as he took a step back from the kid who had just invaded his personal space.

"Everyone, I think I just came up with the best way to get the book from Gideon!" Dipper declared as he dragged Muscle Man toward the other end of the storage room.

"Whoa, little bro! What're you doing? Wait, stop! NOO!" Muscle Man squealed as he tried to get away from Dipper.

"Guys, come and help me with Muscle Man!" Dipper pleaded with the group as he held on for dear life while Muscle Man tried to shake the poor kid off of him.

"Well, I guess we should help him out." Benson said as he shrugged. "After all, nobody else came up with a plan."

The group made their way over to the frantically squealing Muscle Man and tried to help Dipper out.

Death just shook his head disappointedly.

"You mortals just don't ever give up do you?"


	10. Retaliation

"Come on, Muscle Man! We can't just leave Skips all alone out there with Gideon!" Mordecai yelled into the dark corner of the storage room.

"Screw off, bro! I'm not going out there like this. I look ridiculous!" Muscle Man shouted in retort.

Muscle Man had taken to hiding behind a stack of crates in the far corner of the storage room. It was the only part of the room that light could not reach. As far as Muscle Man was concerned, he was determined not to leave the spot. Not after what the group had to do to him.

"Muscle Man, get out here right now!" Benson demanded, his head turning that familiar shade of red. He had had enough of Muscle Man's sulking.

"Come out OR YOU'RE FIRED!"

A few seconds of silence went by after Benson's threat. It seemed that his boss' familiar words would convince Muscle Man to cooperate.

"No, I'm not coming out." Muscle Man said with finality. "Besides, it won't matter if I get fired because we'll all be dead anyways..."

Benson's patience had finally run out.

"THIS IS OUR ONE SHOT AT LIVING, MITCH! YOU CAN'T MESS IT UP FOR US JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE WORRIED ABOUT LOOKING RIDICULOUS!" Benson roared, clearly fed up with the stubbornness of his employee.

"BESIDES, SKIPS HAS BEEN OUT THERE FOR GOD KNOWS HOW LONG STALLING THAT MONSTER! THE LEAST WE CAN DO IS GO BACK OUT THERE AND HELP! **NOW GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE AND LET'S GO!**"

A rustling of cardboard was heard, and the sounds of heavy footsteps echoed in the spacious room. Muscle Man slowly emerged from the shadows in front of the group. Immediately, Mordecai and Rigby started to laugh uncontrollably at Muscle Man.

Muscle Man looked like a completely new person. He had been stuffed into a powder-blue suit that seemed to be at least a size too small. His normally shaggy, messy hair had been slicked back into a giant poof on the top of his head. Muscle Man now resembled an older, fatter, and greener version of Gideon.

Muscle Man muttered a quick "Ifuckinghateyouguys..." under his breath as Mordecai and Rigby tried to regain their composure.

"Sorry, Muscle Man... It's just too funny!" Rigby spoke in between suppressed giggles.

"Okay guys, now that Muscle Man is ready, we can go get that book back." Benson said, trying to bring order back to the group. "I don't see how this is going to work though. Dipper, you want to explain this to us?"

"Sure thing, Benson." Dipper began, he turned to address the whole group. "We know that Gideon acts unpredictably when he is hurt or insulted, judging by what he did to... Wendy..."

Dipper took a moment to pause, trying to force the thought out of his mind again.

"So, Muscle Man here is going to make fun of Gideon while he is dressed up as Gideon. This might be enough of a distraction for one of us to swipe the book from."

As Dipper finished speaking, loud banging and splintering wood could be heard outside of the storage room. Apparently Skips and Gideon took the fight out from the hidden room and into the rest of the Mystery Shack.

"It's now or never guys, let's go." Stan said as he unlocked the huge metal door.

They could still hear the carnage going on outside. It sounded as if most of the display cases and fake oddities were being thrown around and broken. Stan had a mini panic attack at the thought of all his merchandise being smashed and flung around. But he decided that the matter at hand was more important than the money he would have to shell out later to repair the Shack.

"Muscle Man, you go out first and distract him, we'll try to sneak in and surprise him." Dipper said as he nudged Muscle Man over to the doorway.

"F–Fine... I w–will..." Muscle Man replied shakily. The normally confident yet obnoxious man was now a nervous wreck as he approached the doorway. He feared what Gideon would do to him.

The door opened slightly, and Muscle Man slipped out quietly. In the room right outside the door, he could see the path of destruction from the fight between the yeti and the demon. Overturned display cases, broken picture frames, and shards of broken glass littered the wooden floor of the Mystery Shack.

As Muscle Man took in his surroundings, the wall next to him exploded with a sickening crunch. Out from the hole in the wall, came Skips flying through. He landed roughly on the ground right next to where Muscle Man was standing. Skips picked himself up immediately, then noticed Muscle Man standing next to him.

Skips took a wide swing at Muscle Man, almost connecting with his fist to Muscle Man's jaw.

"SKIPS, WAIT! IT'S ME, MUSCLE MAN!" Mitch cried out in fear, cowering with his hands over his face. Skips had mistaken Muscle Man for Gideon with the way that he was dressed up.

"Muscle Man? Why're you dressed up like Gideon?" Skips questioned, lowering his fists.

"It's all part of the kid's plan to save us, just go along with it." Muscle Man said without any real time to explain.

"Well, well, well, what is this?"

Skips and Muscle Man turned to the hole in the wall to see Gideon floating through it. Gideon's shadow puppet Robbie followed his master through the hole.

Muscle Man let loose a curse under his breath, then started to dance and hop around the room foolishly.

"Hey, everybody! Look at me! I'm Gideon!" Muscle Man babbled in a ridiculously goofy voice. "I'm an annoying little 2 foot tall albino midget!"

Gideon was not amused one bit. His eyes lit up, glowing a dark shade of purple. He then screamed as he let forth large fireballs at Muscle Man.

"HOW DARE YOU! YOU FAT TROLL!" Gideon screeched, enraged at the mockery coming from Muscle Man.

Muscle Man had to dodge and run all around the room to stay alive. He did not let up on the Gideon insults through it all.

"Hey, I'm a huge powerful demon! But I took the form of a fat little pig-looking human kid! That makes a lot of sense!" Muscle Man did not relent from his verbal assault.

If there was one thing that was certain for Muscle Man, it was that he knew how to get on anybody's nerves. In fact, Muscle Man started to lose his fear of Gideon the longer his tirade went on. His barrage of insults came more easily and became more brutal. He was truly in his element at the moment.

Gideon, however, was the exact opposite. He had become a glowing ball of homicidal rage. He practically foamed at the mouth as he screamed curses and threw fireballs and energy balls at Muscle Man. Gideon was slowly becoming more unhinged, more careless. All his attention was focused on the insulting green man who had dressed up exactly like himself.

He did not see the door to the storage room open up.

He did not see everyone hide behind the wreckage around the room.

"NOW! GO, GET IT! QUICKLY!" Stan shouted from behind a splintered bookcase.

At that instant, Gideon turned away from Muscle Man, utterly confused as to what was going on.

One second ago, the room was empty except for himself, Robbie, Skips, and Muscle Man.

But now he saw everybody making a rush towards him. They leaped into the air to bring the demon down to the ground. All of them were dog-piled ontop of Gideon and Robbie. At least a dozen set of hands frantically grabbed at Gideon, trying to pull Book 2 from his suit.

"RRRRAAAAAAGGGHHH! ENOUGH OF THIS!" Gideon roared as loud as physically possible. Everyone was suddenly pushed violently off of Gideon as he glowed with a purple aura around him. They hit the walls around the room and crumpled to the ground from the impact.

Gideon knew exactly what they were trying to do now. He once again smiled in his twisted, insane way. Slowly, he reached into his suit and pulled out the book. With a snap of his fingers a small flame danced inches away from the book.

"Looking for this ol' thing?" Gideon sneered. "Well then, Stanford, I assume you possess the other two volumes as well?"

Stan said nothing, he merely glared up at the demon floating above them.

"No matter, it won't be any use to you after it is reduced to ashes."

The flames grew larger, getting closer to Book 2. The heat from the close flame started to peel the red coloring off the cover. It would only be a matter of time before Gideon completely engulfed the book in flames.

"Once the book is gone, you'll have no way to stop me. And this time I'm not letting anybody escape alive."

Gideon put on a wicked grin.

"**You'll all be dead. Including you, and your sweet, innocent little niece and nephew."**

Stan felt as if he had been kicked in the gut.

"NO! NO! LEAVE THEM OUT OF IT!" Stan pleaded with the twisted demon. Tears starting to well up in his eyes. "THEY'RE NOT A PART OF THIS! IT'S BETWEEN YOU AND ME!"

"Too late, Stanford." Gideon spoke plainly, he then made the flame grow even larger and closer to the book. The cover started to singe and fray. It started to smoke and smolder as the flame drew nearer.

Stan watched in horror as the book was about to be engulfed by the hungry flame. It was at this instant, he remembered something from the first day that the twins had arrived.

_Mabel..._

_The gift shop..._

_Yes! Of course!_

"Mabel, you still have that military-grade grappling hook from your first day here?" Stan asked his niece who was on the floor next to him.

"Of course, Grunkle Stan. I carry it around everywhere I go." Mabel replied slightly confused by the random question.

"Quick, give it to me. I have one last plan to save all of our skins." Stan commanded.

Mabel obliged and pulled the grappling hook out from beneath her sweater and handed it to her great uncle.

Stan levelled the sight of the grappling hook at the floating Book 2. His shaky hand made the sights sway off target and back on target constantly. It was going to be a tricky shot from the distance he was at.

_Come on, Stan. _

_Get it together._

_You've only got one shot at this..._

Stan held his breath, steadied his hand as best as possible, and squeezed the trigger.


	11. Return

In less than a second, the grappling hook's claw made contact with Book 2; it roughly dug into the cover of the book. The impact of the blow knocked Book 2 out of Gideon's hand and out of reach of the steadily burning flame. Seeing the book land with a thud on the ground, Stan hit the retract button on the grappling hook. The line immediately flew back into its original position with Book 2 intact. Quickly, Stan tore the book off the hook and began madly flipping through the pages.

It took Gideon a couple seconds to process what had just happened. Instead of the book being burned to ashes, it was now in possession of his mortal enemy. Gideon's face contorted into a mask of pure malice and hatred. The aura surrounding him grew larger, pulsing and swirling erratically.

"NO! I'M NOT GOING BACK UNTIL YOU'RE ALL DEAD! YOU'VE SQUANDERED ENOUGH OF MY TIME ALREADY, STANFORD! ALL THESE WASTED YEARS, JUST SITTING IN THIS PITIFUL MORTAL WORLD WILL BE REPAID IN THE BLOOD OF YOU AND EVERYONE YOU HOLD DEAR!" Gideon roared, his voice had returned to the demonic tone that the park crew recognized from the fateful day at the park.

Just as Gideon finished ranting, the front door of the Mystery Shack burst open. As the door exploded off its hinges, the group saw what they once thought were the normal townspeople of Gravity Falls flooding into the Shack. But they knew the truth now. Each and every person that the twins had come to know in this town was really one of Gideon's shadow puppets all along. They all came in, brandishing weapons and glowing with the sickly purple aura. They could see Blubs and Durland holding nightsticks, Lazy Susan holding a butcher's knife, and Old Man McGucket holding a crowbar. Even Toby Determined was there, holding a baseball bat.

"KILL THEM ALL! LEAVE NO ONE ALIVE!" Gideon commanded to his army of lesser demons.

"BENSON! I need you're guys to hold them off!" Stan yelled to the gumball machine standing a few feet away from him. "Keep them away from Dipper, Mabel, and myself!"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DEFEND OURSELVES WITH? THEY HAVE WEAPONS!" Benson shouted back, almost not believing that those words came out of the old man's mouth.

"Just pick up anything on the ground for Christ's sake! Pick up planks of wood and swing away, or throw books, broken glass, and Mystery Shack shit at them! Just hold them off!" Stan replied hurriedly.

"Alright guys, you heard him. Let's keep them back!" Benson commanded.

Like fiercely loyal soldiers to a masterful general, the park crew immediately began to follow Benson's command. Shards of glass, Mystery Shack novelty items, and random bits of shrapnel from the broken wood all around began to fly in the direction of the shadow creatures.

During the carnage, Stan returned to flipping madly through Book 2 to find the page he was looking for. Having gone through all three volumes many years ago, he knew exactly what page to look on.

_Come on, come on..._

_It's gotta be here..._

_Aha! Exactly where I remembered it to be!_

"Dipper, take out your book and go to page 618!" Stan called out to his nephew.

Dipper pulled Book 3 out of his vest pocket and thumbed hurriedly through the pages. Stan tossed Book 2 to Mabel an told her to stay on page 618. He then pulled out his own volume, Book 1, and found the right page.

"Okay kids, we have to say the incantation in order otherwise it won't work. I'll go first, then Mabel, and then Dipper will finish it off. Got it?" Stan explained as quickly as possible to his great niece and nephew.

They nodded in confirmation.

"AUGH! GUYS, WHATEVER YOU'RE DOING, DO IT FAST! WE CAN'T HOLD THEM OFF FOREVER!" Benson screamed out as he swung a broken lead pipe at Mr. Poolcheck.

"Right then!" Stan cleared his throat and then began chanting the words to the spell.

"**Bound by these words, you cast the spell**

**To summon the demon that raises hell.**" Stan chanted. The golden hand on Book 1 began to glow.

"**Through him, victory you hoped to gain**

**Though the rewards you receive are all in vain.**" Mabel followed. Book 2 also began to give off the shimmering light.

"**Now undo the deal from demon to man**

**And ,to where it dwells, send back Gideon.**" Dipper finished the incantation, while Book 3 began to glow.

Gideon screamed out as the last words of the spell were spoken. He tried to speak, but he instead found himself dropping to the ground. His shadow puppets all acted the same way. They convulsed and twitched on the ground as the group of humans looked on. Out of thin air, a portal filled with nothing but darkness opened up inside the Mystery Shack. Gideon and his minions, unable to even stand up started to be sucked into the portal. The shadow puppets, being the weaker demons were thrown into the void first, but Gideon was putting up an immense fight. He was barely able to stand the pull coming from the void, but with his last bit of willpower, he addressed Stan.

"YOU'VE CHEATED ME, YOU MISERABLE OLD FOOL! I WILL FIND A WAY TO RETURN SOMEDAY! AND I WILL KILL YOU AND YOUR PRECIOUS FAMILY!"

With the empty threats taking up Gideon's last bit of strength, he was tossed into the portal. With Gideon gone, the portal started to close up. When it seemed like the portal was completely closed, it suddenly shot back open.

"What? Why did it open back up? What's going on?" Mordecai cried out in confusion.

"Remember how I told you Gideon created the town to imprison me here? Well, this thing is probably gonna swallow up the town." Stan explained. "We should probably start running now."

With that, the humans made a mad dash for the exit. The park crew made their way over to their golf cart while Stan, Mable, and Soos hopped into the Mystery Cart.

"Wait a minute, where's Dipper?" Mabel cried out, she searched frantically for her brother.

"Did he follow us out?" Mordecai asked, he too was searching for the young boy.

They could see movement inside of the Shack. Although they couldn't exactly see what it was, they could see the figure of a small boy struggling to drag something across the floor.

"Someone, help me! Please, the portal is growing too fast! I CAN'T OUTRUN IT!" the panicked voice of Dipper called out from within the Mystery Shack.

Before the last words were even uttered, Skips shot out of the golf cart and into the Mystery Shack with incredible speed.

Skips hopped through the door and looked around. He stopped dead and stared straight ahead at the scene in front of him. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Coming slowly at him, was Dipper. Dipper was dragging along the body of his red-headed crush, Wendy, frantically trying to move faster than the portal could grow.

With tearful eyes, Dipper acknowledged the great yeti. " I couldn't leave her behind, not like this..."

With one bound, Skips scooped up Dipper and Wendy's body and sprinted for the door. He narrowly avoided the edge of the void as he did so.

Skips hopped in the Mystery Cart with Dipper and Wendy's lifeless body and yelled out hoarsely for the two carts to get the hell out of there.

They sped off into the surrounding forest. It felt like forever, but they finally reached the border between Gravity Falls and the rest of East Pines. They passed the sign that read: NOW LEAVING GRAVITY FALLS – VISIT US AGAIN REAL SOON!

Once they were clear of the sign, and officially out of Gravity Falls, they turned the carts around and stopped to watch what would happen to the town. The darkness enveloped the town and the surrounding forest for a few seconds. It was total blackness, nothing was able to be seen. Then as if nothing had even happened, the darkness disappeared. The only things left were the trees and the docile sounds of the forest.

The town that the twins had come to know during this fateful summer, had completely vanished off the face of the Earth. The only thing left was the dilapidated old building that was the Mystery Shack.

"I don't believe it... It's finally over." Stan breathed a sigh of relief. "Let's get back to the East Pines Ranger Station, we can rest there."

The group grunted in agreement and once again took off in their respective golf carts. In a few minutes, they pulled up to the Ranger Station. The park crew instantly recognized this building as the one where they conversed with Gene just the day before. Surely enough, as they walked single-file into the building, they could see Gene's broken corpse lying there untouched.

Stan had to suppress the urge to break down and cry. His best employee, lying there broken and dead.

_It's all my fault..._

_Wendy first, and now Gene..._

_Two of my employees dead..._

_All because of me..._

A choked-up "Jesus Christ..." passed hoarsely, almost inaudibly from Stan's lips as he took in the sight of Gene.

The survivors of the encounter with Gideon all sat in Gene's office in complete silence. Nobody knew what to say, they were all in shock at the hell they had been put through.

As they sat there, with only the buzzing of the fluorescent lights overhead making any noise, flames once again shot out of a sudden opening in the ground. Death sprang out of the hole at once and turned to face the group.

He advanced towards them with an angry grimace plastered on his skeletal face.

_Death was pissed._


	12. Sacrifice

"Well, you blokes really did it, eh? You've cheated me again." Death spoke with mock awe. "Now not only have you sufficiently wasted my bloody time, but now I'm going to be short on souls collected today!"

Nobody in the room retorted back to the angry grim reaper. This served only to incense him further. The sunglasses he usually wore over his eye sockets broke apart as small, bright flames rose from the sockets.

"Y'know, you're all delaying the inevitable... You will all have to die sometime!" Death growled coldly. "The sooner you get it over with, the better..."

Death's tone became venomous again as the words poured out of his pale skull. He turned his head to look at each and every person in the room. Still nobody had responded to him. His gaze then swept over to the floor where he saw the body of Wendy. Death smirked, then smugly chuckled to himself. With a snap of his bony fingers, a flash of green light burst in the tiny office room.

A glowing entity had appeared in the center of the room. The ghostly figure was almost completely transparent at first. But as it took shape, they saw that the entity looked eerily familiar.

A small gasp of disbelief was heard from the corner of the office.

"WENDY!" Dipper cried out joyously as he sprinted over to the faded form of the girl he admired since the beginning of the summer.

Dipper leaped into the air to embrace Wendy, but found himself crashing right into the concrete floor. He felt an icy chill as he passed through what he thought to be Wendy.

Clutching his forearm in pain from the impact, Dipper looked up with tears in eyes at the ghostly form of Wendy.

Her head tilted back with a small smile plastered on her face. He heard her laugh. But it wasn't exactly her normal voice, it had an ethereal, almost supernatural echo to it. She then controlled her giggling and spoke to the young boy.

"You hurt yourself there, ya dork?" Wendy teased through stifled giggles.

"Oi, kid! Don't you know that you can't touch spirits?" Death mocked, trying to suppress a grin as he saw Dipper tumble to the hard ground.

"Wendy, you're... a ghost?" Dipper questioned, still clutching at the injured spot on his arm. A nasty bruise started to form, a big ugly blackish mark contrasting against his pale skin.

"Well, that kinda happens when you come back to the living world after you die... So yeah, I guess I am!" Wendy replied in a sweetly sarcastic way.

"Whoa... What's the afterlife like? Is it–" Dipper began.

"Uh-uh, no! That information cannot be told to the living!" Death warned, getting back to his serious tone.

"Well now, all o' you blokes should say your final goodbyes to dear Wendy here. She needs to go back to the afterlife real soon." Death said matter-of-factly as he materialized a new pair of sunglasses out of thin air and stuck them on his skull.

"C'mon, c'mon! You've already wasted my day! Let's go!" Death snapped, tapping his cowboy-booted foot impatiently.

"W–wait! Mr. Death! You can't take her back!" Dipper blurted out to the grim reaper in front of him. "After all, you said it wasn't her time to die!"

Death took a few steps closer to Dipper, then bent down into a crouching position. He was nearly face to skull with the young boy. Dipper stared into the cold, black shades that obscured Death's eyeholes. Death then grinned the most evil of grins.

"While that may be true, all o' them," Death pointed to the Quintel Park crew "Managed to survive today."

Dipper waited for Death to continue with an anxious nervousness overtaking him.

"So, I think it's only fair that I take the young lass' soul." Death coldly whispered, the evil smile still plastered on his face.

Death's words echoed in Dipper's minds for a few seconds. The icy words hung heavy on Dipper as he tried to process what he had just heard.

_No... No..._

_It can't be true..._

_He's actually going to take her..._

With that Dipper broke down. He couldn't help it if Wendy saw him blubbering and bawling like that, it was just too much for him. He would never see her again in this mortal world.

Skips' eyes widened at the sight of the young boy breaking down and letting all his emotions out. With that, Skips was lost in a memory from long ago. So long ago that he was still going by his old name, Walks.

_QUINTEL CITY – 1893_

_In the small pioneer town, forged in the relatively new state of Oregon, Walks and his beloved girlfriend find themselves walking through the busy streets. Passing by the various small shops and saloons, they stop and greet all of the friendly, familiar faces that populate the town._

_They come across the general store at the very corner of town, they then step inside._

"_Ah, Walks, my good man!" a gruff voice immediately sounded as the couple walked through the door._

_Walks turned his head to see who had addressed him, a large grin came over his face as he tipped his hat._

"_Good morning, Mr. Maellard!" Walks replied cheerily in his own gruff voice._

_The short, large-headed man made his way over to the huge yeti and embraced him in a hug as if he were his own son. Maellerd pulled back then looked to the woman accompanying Walks._

"_Oh my, and who is this lovely young lady?" Maellerd asked as he tipped his own bowler hat at the woman._

"_My name is Marianne, I'm Walks' fiancee!" she greeted the short man in front of her as she curtsied._

"_Ah, excellent! Most excellent, my dear lady!" Maellerd beamed as he clasped his hands together._

"_Heh heh, yeah it's great!" Walks began, blushing the whole time. "Anyways, what's there to do around the general store today, sir?"_

_Maellerd help up his hand, palm facing outwardly toward Walks. He then shook his head. "For a new employee such as yourself, you sure are eager to work, eh?"_

_Maellerd chuckled pleasantly, then continued._

"_Nothing to do today,Walks! Actually, I wanted you to come with me on an errand today." Maellerd said to his employee. "Of course, Miss Marianne can accompany us as well!"_

"_Great! Lead the way, boss!" Walks replied as they headed out the door._

_The trio walked out of the saloon and towards the outskirts of the small town. After a few minutes of walking, they came across a beautiful meadow. Bright green grass carpeted the ground, as deer and other assorted wildlife ambled lazily to and fro. Vast amounts of colorful flowers formed almost perfect rows at odd intervals in the grass._

"_Oh my God. Mr. Maellerd! It's beautiful!" Marianne said in awe at the scenery in front of her._

"_Yes, it is quite a sight, isn't it?" Maellerd replied drinking in the beauty of the meadow. He then turned to the yeti and addressed him._

"_Walks, my good man, one day I will turn this beautiful meadow into an even more gorgeous park for all the townspeople to enjoy." Maellerd said. "And I would be honored, when that happens, if you would be the first employee to work there."_

_Walks nodded his head in affirmation._

"_That sounds great, Mr. Maellerd. I'm pretty good at fixing things so I could be the handyman around the park."_

"_Excellent idea, Walks!" Maellerd beamed as he shook the large yeti's hand._

"_Oh, Mr. Maellerd I hope you won't mind if I do something with my fiancee?" Marianne spoke up._

"_Not at all, dear lady!" Maellerd replied courteously with a slight bow._

_Marianne then turned to Walks with a small smile on her face._

"_Walks, I would love it if we could skip together through this beautiful meadow!"_

_Walks was slightly taken aback at this._

"_Honey, maybe another time. My employer is here and... well... that would be slightly embarrassing." Walks said awkwardly._

"_It's no trouble, Walks! I'll be on my way now!" Maellerd said as he began to walk away. "You lovebirds have fun now!"_

_Walks then turned back to Marianne with a sheepish grin._

"_Okay, we can go skipping now!" Walks said happily to his fiancee._

_And with that, they skipped through the meadow for the rest of the day._

_4 WEEKS LATER – TWO DAYS BEFORE WALKS' AND MARIANNE'S WEDDING_

_Walks trudged solemnly through the town, a bouquet of flowers in hand. Walking up the normally busy street, he barely even looked up at the townspeople passing him by. He could hear all their comments as he passed by._

"_Poor Walks, such a nice man... He didn't deserve this..."_

"_And just two days before the wedding... Unbelievable..."_

_Walks finally reached his destination: the cemetery at the very edge of town._

_He searched for the fresh headstone, the one that had only been placed there just the day before._

_On it, he could see the name: Marianne Woodward._

_A single tear rolled down the yeti's cheek as he placed the bouquet down before the grave._

"_Y'know, it's a right shame. Succumbing to tuberculosis... and just days before the wedding. Pity."_

_The cold mocking voice sounded behind Walks, he recognized the British accent instantly._

_It was none other than Death himself._

"_Get out of here, Death." Walks said quietly, he felt pure primal rage welling up inside of him. "I know you took her away prematurely just to spite me."_

_Death gave a hearty laugh._

"_You caught me, Walks! And guess what?" Death questioned the yeti in front of him. "I'll make sure that it keeps happening to all the ones you hold dear."_

_Walks offered nothing in response._

"_Eventually, I will break you and get you to give up your immortality." Death cruelly spat._

"_Well then, old friend." Walks turned around to face Death. "You'll have to wait a hell of a lot longer for me to do so."_

_Death's scowling smile began to fade._

"_Because I'm going to continue living as long as possible; for Marianne's sake. She would've wanted me to stay strong and keep pushing forward even in trying times like these."_

_Death grimaced in anger._

"_Her memory will help me live on."_

_Death growled loudly in frustration, then snapped his fingers. A small green portal opened up in the cemetery. He jumped halfway in before turning back to the yeti._

"_Someday." Death offered that final word before disappearing into the portal. It then vanished._

When the memory finished playing out in his head, Skips started to think to himself.

_The way Dipper looks at that girl, Wendy..._

_It reminds me of how I used to look at Marianne..._

_He really does love her..._

_I can't let Death take the girl's soul..._

A thought then occurred to Skips.

"Death, wait." Skips broke his inner monologue to address the reaper. "Give the girl her life back."

Death roared with laughter.

"You can't be bloody serious? I already said I'm not giving her soul back." Death retorted coolly.

"Then in that case," Skips began, he then took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "I offer my soul in exchange for hers."

Death was completely floored by what he just heard. A triumphant smirk grew slowly on his skeletal face. "Heh heh, now that is a deal! You're soul is mine, Skips!"

Skips turned to face his co-workers one last time. They all had looks of pure shock and sorrow plastered on their faces.

"Skips... No... You..." Benson sputtered.

"It's alright guys, I've had my fair amount of time here on Earth. And besides, I couldn't just let the young girl die. She had a full life ahead of her."

"We'll never forget you, Skips." the park crew said as they all huddled against the yeti for a group hug.

"I'll never forget you guys either." Skips maintained his gruff voice but he could feel tears stinging at his eyes.

As the group of co-workers pulled away from the embrace, Skips felt one more tiny pair of arms around his torso. He looked down to see Dipper now hugging him.

With tears still in his eyes, Dipper managed to produce a small smile. "T–thank you." was all he could manage to say.

Skips nodded at the boy with a gentle smile on his face.

"Alright, let's go!" Death yelled giddily at the prospect of taking his rival's soul.

Death opened up a portal in the room and hopped through. Skips hesitated then skipped over to the portal. He bowed his head then said softly to himself "I'm coming home, Marianne."

Skips jumped through the portal, looking back as he did so.

The last he saw of the mortal world was his friends waving goodbye to him as the portal slowly closed.


	13. Reunion

**A/N: I'm truly sorry about the long delay. School and work got in the way, as they always seem to do. Anyways, this story is starting to wrap up now so one or two more chapters are left. They'll be updated regularly again (usually shooting for one chapter a week.)**

The air hung heavy in the room. Every member of the park crew all huddled together in a sort of huge hug, all of them silently mourning the loss of their dear friend, Skips.

Breaking the silence was the ghostly form of Wendy, who was still hovering in the room. She let out a short yelp.

"Uh, guys what's happening?" Wendy spoke, as she started to hover towards her human body.

"Don't worry, Wendy. You're going to be fine." Dipper offered with a small reassuring smile.

With that, Wendy's soul leaped right back into her body on the ground. An eerie green light engulfed the teen's body as she was being made complete again. She shuddered and twitched on the ground as life was once again brought to her lifeless vessel. After several minutes, the glowing ceased and Wendy went limp.

She then slowly opened her eyes.

"Whoa... That was the weirdest feeling ever..." Wendy said, picking herself up off the ground.

She then remembered the awful events that transpired just hours ago:

_Robbie._

_The knife._

_Dying in a pool of her own blood._

Automatically, she felt her hand reach behind her back to the spot where the knife had been plunged into her back. All she felt was smooth skin.

No scar.

No trace of her ever being stabbed.

"Oh man, it's like nothing ever happened!" Wendy exclaimed. A puzzled look overcame her face all of a sudden. "But, uh, can someone explain to me what the hell happened back there?"

Dipper ran over and gave the redheaded teenager a quick hug.

"It's actually a long story... We'll catch you up later." Dipper said calmly as he slowly broke away from the embrace.

"Well, alright then I guess." Wendy replied, still wanting to know what had transpired while she was dead.

Benson cleared his throat and walked toward Stan on the opposite side of the room.

"So, I guess we're done here." Benson began, eying the old man the whole time. "Thanks for helping us out... Even though it's your fault that we all almost died..."

"You're welcome?" Stan replied, not knowing if that's what the gumball machine wanted to hear. "I... Uh, I guess you'll be on your way then..."

"Yeah, I mean, we have to get back to the park to sort out the aftermath of what happened. So, I guess this is goodbye."

"Heh heh... Yeah, you can come back and visit anytime!" Stan joked, trying to liven up the mood a little bit.

Benson's stony stare hadn't faltered, his eye twitched as rage started to boil within him. He was about to unleash a verbal tirade, but then caught himself.

_No, it's not worth it..._

_It's over with..._

Benson turned, then motioned to his employees to follow him into the golf cart. After everyone piled in, he threw the cart in gear and sped off down the dirt trail that lead out of East Pines.

Watching the cart speed off down the trail, Stan was once again hit with a surging wave of guilt.

_I can't let them go back to face Maellard alone..._

_He'll fire them for sure..._

_I've gotta set things right._

Stan started to fish through his pockets hurriedly. After a few minutes of searching, he found what he was looking for: a set of keys. He then ran over to the Mystery Cart and started it up.

"C'mon, everyone. We're going for a little drive." Stan barked rushedly from the driver's seat.

"Grunkle Stan, where are we going?" Dipper asked as he, Mabel, Soos, and Wendy made their way into the cart.

"You'll find out when we get there." Stan replied as he pressed the gas pedal to the floor.

Benson drove the cart through the front gate of their own park. The devastation from Gideon's attack was still there. Overturned benches, broken trees, large scorch marks in the earth from raging fires. It looked like a complete warzone.

The park house then came into view.

_Please let Maellard not be here..._

_Please let Maellard not be here..._

Benson mentally chanted, hoping not to see any sign of his employer.

It was then that he saw the limo parked out front of the house.

"Shit. Shit! SHIT!" Benson yelled as he pounded the steering wheel with his fist.

"Benson, what's wrong? You're acting cra–" Mordecai began, noticing Benson's strange behavior. But then he saw the familiar limo.

"Ohhh... We're screwed..." Mordecai moaned as he covered his face with his wings.

Without any other option, Benson pulled the cart up to the front of the park house. Shutting off the engine, he addressed his coworkers.

"Alright guys, apparently Mr. Maellard is here and that probably means bad news for all of us. I don't know how we're going to explain all of this to him; but however it turns out, we're probably all in a huge amount of trouble."

Just as Benson finished up his little speech, the front door to the park house swung wildly open. Out sprinted a short, ancient old man with an enormous head. The scarf around his neck flapped madly as he made his way down the stairs. Within seconds, he had made his way over to the park crew.

There he was, Mr. Maellard, standing right in front of them. To say he was furious would be an understatement. His face turned a violent shade of red as he surveyed all his employees standing in front of him. He was ready to explode.

"BEANTON!" Maellard barked out madly, mispronouncing Benson's name on purpose. "DO YOU MIND EXPLAINING WHERE YOU ALL WERE? I'VE HAD TO TRY TO SORT THIS WHOLE MESS OUT BY MYSELF! WHERE ON GOD'S GREEN EARTH HAVE YOU ALL BEEN?"

"Well, Mr. Maellard, we were trying to–" Benson started.

"You know what? I don't even care! All of you are fired for abandoning your posts!" Maellard roared with finality. "I want all of your stuff out of the park house in two days!"

Everyone looked on in shock. They would have never thought that Maellard would get rid of every single one of them. Of course, except for Pops, since he's Maellard's son, he gets to stay.

Maellard once again surveyed all of his former employees. His icy stare swept over them again and again and again. With a puzzled look, he gruffly questioned the group.

"Skips? Where is Skips? He'll tell me the truth about what's going on."

"Mr. Maellard, sir." Benson. "Uh... Skips is no longer–" Benson began, but was cut off yet again.

Although it was not Mr. Maellard who had interrupted. Benson had become distracted by an object moving at an insane speed towards the group. As it hurriedly made its way over, he saw an all-too-familiar sight.

The Mystery Cart screeched to a halt right in front of the park crew, then shut off. Out of the cart came five familiar faces from the previous day's events. Stan jumped immediately out of the cart and headed over. Not even bothering to look around, he made a beeline straight for Benson. His posture was slumped and nervous, beads of sweat had formed at his brow. His fez that he previously wore on his head was now in his hands. He clutched it tightly with both hands.

"Look, uh, Benson. I really hope I didn't cause you guys too much trouble with your boss." Stan mumbled apologetically. "I'd like to–"

Stan never finished that thought. As he spoke to Benson, his eyes swept over the group to look at the faces he came to know over the previous day. He froze up when he saw the short old man with the giant head. A face from his past. Stan could not speak, he was frozen in utter terror.

Maellard's expression quickly turned ferocious when he realized who it was standing before him. It was unmistakable as to who the man was: cheap suit, giant glasses, and the trademark fez. For a second, Maellard couldn't believe who it was before him, but the bitter thoughts soon flooded back into his mind. There was a look of pure hatred directed at Stan.

"Heh heh... Hey there, Ogden... Long time, no see eh?" Stan babbled nervously.

Maellard just looked on with his icy stare.

"Stanford Pines." was all Maellard said in a low, almost inaudible voice.

He continued to look on with that same piercing stare.


End file.
